PM orders fuel stations not to cite shortages this week, urges refineries to run at full capacity

Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said the government has instructed oil traders and refineries to speed up fuel releases into the system to resolve pump shortages reported in several parts of the country.

Speaking on Monday, Phiphat said the Joint Management and Monitoring Centre for the Situation in the Middle East had met with refinery operators and oil traders to seek cooperation in accelerating supply distribution.

“The Prime Minister has instructed that within this week, no service station should say it has no fuel for sale,” Phiphat said, adding that companies had acknowledged the instruction and would try to comply, with the government receiving strong cooperation from all firms.

Phiphat said the meeting was told that oil traders and refineries are now supplying diesel to nearly 10,000 service stations nationwide, averaging 82-84 million litres per day, up from about 67 million litres per day before the crisis. However, he said that volume is still not enough to meet domestic demand.

Phiphat said the Prime Minister signed an order on March 21 cancelling planned increases in mandatory reserves of domestically produced fuel—previously set at 1.5% from March 31, 2026, and 3% from April 30, 2026—and keeping the reserve requirement at 1% to allow additional fuel to be released into the market.

He said refineries were asked to operate at 100% capacity, with some ready to run above normal levels, and to deliver all refined output to traders for rapid distribution nationwide.

Phiphat said B20 diesel will be available within the week through major oil firms including OR, Bangchak, and Shell, sold via jobber channels to mainly support industrial users.

He added that the Interior Ministry has instructed provincial governors to direct district chiefs to inspect service stations for possible hoarding. He said no hoarding had been found aside from a case previously detected in Ang Thong.

Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), said pump shortages were caused by unusually high demand, which slowed delivery through pipelines and fuel trucks. He said pipelines must send different fuel types on a set schedule, while diesel consumption has surged—on some days reaching 100 million litres, nearly double the normal average.

He said easing rules to allow fuel transport trucks to operate 24 hours a day has helped, and the situation is beginning to improve.

On reports that some Bangchak stations posted signs saying diesel would not be available until April 1, Danucha said Bangchak confirmed that after reserve requirements were relaxed, it would be able to release that fuel for public sale.

He added that Thailand has continued importing crude oil, with more than 3.4 billion litres brought in between March 1-20, which he said is sufficient for domestic refining needs.

Prasert Sinsukprasert, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Energy, said the government has ordered oil traders and more than 200 jobbers to report daily figures for production, receipts and sales to the Department of Energy Business, to provide visibility on fuel movements. He said enforcement against hoarding will continue, warning that if fuel is available but a seller refuses to open for sale, it would be an offence immediately.