Energy Ministry rolls out six oil supply measures for Songkran
Measures include higher fuel reserves, more imports, standby tankers and tighter stock monitoring to keep supplies flowing during the holiday.
- Oil traders are required to increase fuel reserves and prepare standby fuel trucks at high-demand service stations.
- The reserve requirement for imported refined fuel has been temporarily cut from 7% to 1% to encourage more imports and supplement supply.
- An additional 7 million liters of fuel are being distributed daily to wholesale traders to help ease congestion at service stations.
- Designated fuel service points have been established for public buses to ensure their operational needs are met during the festival.
Auttapol Rerkpiboon, Minister of Energy, outlined fuel preparedness measures for the Songkran festival, saying the Ministry of Energy has put in place the following measures:
- The public can check fuel status through the Fuel Now application (fuel-now.doeb.go.th).
- About 7 million litres of fuel per day have been distributed to wholesale traders (jobbers) for allocation to fuel users and to help ease congestion at service stations.
- Oil traders have been instructed to increase fuel reserves and prepare fuel trucks to stand by at service stations expected to record high sales during the Songkran period.
- For public buses, fuel service points have been designated in coordination with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Transport.
- Traders have also been coordinated to bring in additional refined fuel imports, with a policy to cut the reserve requirement for imported refined fuel to just 1%, down from the prescribed 7%.
Auttapol added that oil prices remain volatile and high at present.
However, he said the public could be assured that Thailand still has energy security, with sufficient oil to meet demand for about 107 days.
Confirmed oil imports are also scheduled to gradually arrive in Thailand through May, ensuring adequate supply.
The Ministry of Energy has continued to monitor and assess the situation, while implementing measures such as:
- Export suspension measures
- Inspections of oil stocks at oil depots and among fuel traders under Section 7 of the law
- Supervision of refineries to increase diesel production;
- Measures to relax stock-counting rules to increase oil reserves
- The issuance of a Ministry of Energy announcement requiring Section 7 fuel traders to declare prices and stocks at all refineries and oil depots
- Measures to increase the blending ratio of biofuel in refined fuels
In terms of fuel volumes and distribution, measures have been introduced to relax reserve requirements for imported refined fuel from 7% to 1% in order to encourage more imports and supplement domestic supply.
Refinery production is also being monitored daily, while fuel deliveries to oil traders and wholesale traders (jobbers) are being accelerated for distribution to smaller service stations in order to reduce congestion during refuelling.
Operations are also being jointly monitored in an integrated manner with relevant agencies.
However, the public can be assured that inspections of unauthorised oil storage sites have been intensified, with charges to be filed and legal action to follow.
The ministry is coordinating with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to track every fuel tanker leaving depots to ensure it reaches its destination service station.
It is also working with the Ministry of Interior to inspect authorised storage sites to ensure they are operating in line with their conditions.
At the same time, more fuel has continued to be fed into the system, helping reduce shortages at service stations.
