Petrol use soars on 1st-car scheme

Veerapol Jirapradiskul, director-general of the Department of Energy Business, said fuel consumption in the first half of the year rose by 8.6 per cent. Petrol consumption increased by 9 per cent to 22.5 million litres per day, with most of the increase accounted for by gasohol, which surged by 77 per cent to 20.2 million litres a day. Sales of E20 reached 2.6 million litres a day, which led to a 94-per-cent rise in ethanol consumption to 2.5 million litres per day. 

The ratio of gasohol consumption to pure petrol has stood at 92:8 since January. 

Diesel consumption increased by 4 per cent to 59.6 million litres a day. 

In the first six months, petrol consumption expanded by 8-9 per cent, compared with 2-3 per cent normally, an increase largely due to last year’s first-car tax-incentive scheme, which pushed vehicle sales over a million units. 

The Department of Energy Business has asked the oil refineries to avoid simultaneous maintenance shutdowns that could lead to a shortage of petrol. Thailand imports 20 million to 30 million litres of petrol per month for mixing with ethanol, Veerapol said. 

Furthermore, gasohol consumption surged sharply, resulting in strong demand for ethanol. Some local ethanol plants have export obligations. Thailand’s total ethanol output currently exceeds 4 million litres per day versus demand of about 2.5 million litres a day, but is expected to rise to 3 million litres by this year-end. 

Meanwhile, consumption of liquefied petroleum gas in the first half of the year averaged 614,000 tonnes per month, up 4.1 per cent, with the transport sector accounting for most of the growth at 141,000 tonnes per month, up 59 per cent. 

The government is tightening loopholes to tackle illegal use of household LPG stocks by the transport sector. Household cooking-gas consumption was 201,000 tonnes a month, down by 17.6 per cent, while industrial consumption of LPG was 50,000 tonnes a month, down slightly by 1.7 per cent. The petroleum sector’s LPG usage was 220,000 tonnes a month, up 7.5 per cent, while LPG import was 152,000 tonnes a month, up 4.3 per cent. These are considered normal growth rates.

The crackdown against illegal LPG usage has boosted revenue for the Oil Fund by about Bt160 million to Bt189 million, Veerapol said. 

Even though the government will revise the price for LPG for households on September 1, consumption is unlikely to change, as the government will subsidise cooking-gas prices for low-income consumers. 

As for the transport sector, LPG usage is not expected to rise as much as in the past after the price increase this September, and consumption level is approaching a peak. In June, there were 1,604 LPG service stations, up from 1,075 stations in the same month last year, Veerapol added. 

Meanwhile, the consumption of natural gas for vehicles in the first half was about 8.4 million kilograms a day, up by only 11 per cent (a normal growth rate) because of a shortage of NGV stations. PTT plans to set up more NGV service stations in Bangkok and surrounding areas, and on major routes nationwide by 2015. As a short-term remedy, the volume of NGV supplied by pipeline has been increased to reduce the waiting time of motorists queuing for fill-ups. There are currently 477 NGV service stations versus 469 in June of last year, Veerapol said. 

In the first six months of the year, Thailand imported 880,000 barrels of crude oil per day, down by 3 per cent, for a total value of Bt527 billion. Refined-oil exports were 166,000 barrels a day, valued at Bt104 billion, down by 25 per cent from the same period last year.