FACTBOX-Subsidies shield many Asian consumers from $100 oil

Jan 3 (Reuters) - Governments and state oil companies
across Asia are bearing much of the brunt of $100 oil prices on
behalf of consumers, helping stoke demand in India and China
while weighing heavily on budgets in Indonesia and Malaysia.

China has raised diesel prices by just 70 percent over the
past five years, while India's have risen only 40 percent over
the past four. Indonesia raised gasoline prices by nearly 150
percent since 2003, but its fuel is still the cheapest in Asia.

By contrast benchmark cash gasoline prices in Singapore
soared 235 percent since 2003 to $105.38 a barrel on Thursday.
Diesel prices have soared by 244 percent to $111.70 a barrel.

And at Singapore's retail stations, petrol sells for $1.37
per litre and diesel at $1.06 a litre as of Thursday.

Find below details of which major countries in Asia
subsidise their fuel prices and what it costs them to do so.
***************************************************************
* CHINA

RETAIL GASOLINE PRICE: $0.72/litre for 93-octane;

$0.67/litre for 90-octane

RETAIL DIESEL PRICE: $0.70/litre

LAST INCREASES: 10 pct on Nov. 1 2007

RISE SINCE JAN 2003: gasoline prices by 67 pct, diesel by
71 pct. [ID:nSP263366]

SUBSIDY BORNE BY: Top refiner Sinopec Corp (0386.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) and,
to a lesser degree, upstream heavyweight PetroChina (0857.HK: Quote, Profile, Research).

COST OF SUBSIDY: $1.37 billion payout to Sinopec in 2005

$685 million payout to Sinopec in 2006

SUBSIDY AS PCT OF TOTAL GOVT BUDGET COSTS: 2.9 pct in 2005;

0.1 pct in 2006

TOTAL OIL DEMAND: 7.5 million bpd

OUTLOOK: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in November there
was room for further prices rises as domestic prices lagged
world oil prices, but Beijing has yet to follow through on
years of promises to . [ID:nSP108071]
***************************************************************
* INDIA

RETAIL GASOLINE PRICE: $1.10/litre

RETAIL DIESEL PRICE: $0.77/litre

LAST INCREASES: Gasoline by 9.2 percent and diesel by 6.7
percent in June 2006

RISE SINCE JAN 2004: 29.1 percent for gasoline, 40.3
percent for diesel

SUBSIDY BORNE BY: Government, state-run upstream companies,
and state-run retailers

COST OF SUBSIDY: (a) Government through budget 26 billion
rupees; (b) Government through the issue of bonds to state oil
firms 299 billion rupees; (c) Upstream companies 231 billion
rupees; (d) State fuel retailers 170 billion rupees

* The value of the non-budget subsidy rises and falls with
global crude prices. The above figures relate to a crude rate
of $90

SUBSIDY AS PCT OF TOTAL GOVT BUDGET COSTS: 0.4 percent

TOTAL OIL DEMAND: 2.4 million bpd

OUTLOOK: India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in
November that India must trim its growing subsidies on food,
fertiliser and fuels if it is to sustain economic growth at
around 9 percent. The oil minister said on Thursday that a
decision on whether to raise prices would probably be taken
before the end of January. [ID:nDEL000905]
***************************************************************
* INDONESIA

RETAIL SUBSIDISED GASOLINE PRICE: $0.48/litre for 88-octane

RETAIL SUBSIDISED DIESEL PRICE: $0.459/litre

LAST INCREASES: 125 percent increase in October 2005

RISE SINCE JAN 2003: 148 pct for gasoline, 127 pct for
diesel

SUBSIDY BORNE BY: the central government

COST OF SUBSIDY: $9.31 billion in 2007; $4.89 billion in
2008

SUBSIDY AS PCT OF TOTAL GOVT BUDGET COSTS: 12 pct

TOTAL OIL DEMAND: 660,000 bpd of subsidised fuel

OUTLOOK: The government has yet to announce how it would
cope with the soaring global oil prices. It has recently
scrapped plans to limit fuel for private cars [ID:nJAK319560].
***************************************************************
* MALAYSIA

RETAIL GASOLINE PRICE: $0.58/litre

RETAIL DIESEL PRICE: $0.48/litre

LAST INCREASES: gasoline 18.5 pct, diesel 23.4 pct on Feb.
28, 2006

RISE SINCE JAN 2004: gasoline 40 pct, diesel 102 pct

SUBSIDY BORNE BY: government

COST OF SUBSIDY: The government spends $4.5 billion a year
on fuel subsidies, comprising $2.42 billion in direct price
subsidies and $2.12 billion in foregone taxes. Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in November the subsidy could reach
20 billion in 2008 if there are no fuel price increases.

SUBSIDY AS PCT OF TOTAL GOVT BUDGET COSTS: 11 pct

TOTAL OIL DEMAND: 517,000 bpd

OUTLOOK: Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on
Wednesday the government would keep fuel prices unchanged for
as long as it can afford. But when the time comes for prices to
be increased, the government would do so. [ID:nKLR38977]
***************************************************************

VIETNAM

RETAIL GASOLINE PRICE: $0.81/litre

RETAIL DIESEL PRICE: $0.63/litre

LAST INCREASES: 15 percent on Nov. 22

RISE SINCE JAN 2004: 167 percent for gasoline, 193 percent
for diesel.

SUBSIDY BORNE BY: government

COST OF SUBSIDY: about $620 million per year

SUBSIDY AS PCT OF TOTAL GOVT BUDGET COSTS: 3 pct

TOTAL OIL DEMAND: 250,000 bpd

OUTLOOK: The government said in November 2007 it planned to
stop subsidising distillates from 2008. It has eliminated
subsidies on gasoline and diesel, but has not allowed local
prices to rise as quickly as global ones. [nHAN250627]
***************************************************************
* BANGLADESH

RETAIL GASOLINE PRICE: $0.97/litre

RETAIL DIESEL PRICE: $0.58/litre

LAST INCREASES: 21 percent in April 2

RISE SINCE JANUARY 2004: Over 100 percent for both.

SUBSIDY BORNE BY: government

COST OF SUBSIDY: about $730 million per year

TOTAL OIL DEMAND: 60,000 bpd
================================================================
= (Reporting by Felicia Loo, Muklis Ali in Jakarta, Liau
Y-Sing in Kuala Lumpur, Nguyen Nhat Lam in Hanoi and Anis Ahmed
in Dhaka, and New Delhi bureau)