Thailand eyes fuel import swap to keep more refined oil at home
PM orders study of refined fuel imports for re-export to Laos while keeping locally refined oil for domestic use, boosting supply security by 5 million litres a day
Prime Minister has instructed authorities to explore importing refined oil from overseas for re-export to Laos, while retaining domestically refined fuel for local consumption, in a move aimed at strengthening the country’s energy security.
Danucha Pichayanan, Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), said on March 26 that relevant agencies, including the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), provincial energy offices and provincial commerce offices, had conducted inspections across seven provinces — Chachoengsao, Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, Lampang, Phitsanulok and Songkhla.
The inspections covered 22 oil traders, including middlemen or “jobbers” in the fuel business. For those operating without storage facilities, records were found to be accurate with no irregularities. For those with storage facilities, around 10,000 litres of fuel remained in stock, which was in the process of being sold, with no abnormalities detected.
Authorities also inspected two large-scale fuel depots under Section 7 in Songkhla province. These were found to be holding less than 50% of capacity, or around 10 million litres. However, all records were verified and no irregularities were found.
Danucha added that a survey conducted by the Thai Chamber of Commerce on the night of March 26 covered 550 petrol stations. Of these, 390 stations were found to be out of fuel, down from 450 previously. He noted that stations running out of fuel overnight were typically resupplied and able to resume normal operations by morning.
Regarding crude oil supply, Thailand imported around 3.4 billion litres between March 1 and 18, followed by 878 million litres between March 20 and 25, bringing the total to 4.231 billion litres. This was sufficient for domestic refining needs, with additional supplies expected to continue arriving in April and May.
As for refined fuel exports, Thailand shipped an average of 4.6 million litres per day to Laos and 220,000 litres per day to Myanmar between March 1 and 25.
“The prime minister wants domestically refined oil to be used within the country, while importing refined fuel from abroad for export to Laos instead. This could help increase domestic oil security by about 5 million litres per day,” Danucha said.
He added that the proposal is currently under review, but importing refined fuel for such purposes is feasible.
