Anutin prepares revised oil plan as Middle East crisis drags on
Anutin says the government is preparing to adjust its oil plan for a prolonged Middle East crisis, tightening work-from-home measures and urging reduced private car use and more carpooling.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the government is preparing to adjust its domestic oil management plan in response to the energy crisis, as the conflict in the Middle East is likely to drag on.
In a Facebook post on Monday (April 6), Anutin said the war in the Middle East had widened and escalated, with more attacks on infrastructure and oil refineries, as reflected in the positions taken by the leaders of the countries involved and in international media reports.
“Such conditions put the world at risk of an energy crisis, particularly because of the gap between the supply of and demand for oil shipped from the Middle East to the rest of the world,” he said.
“It is reasonable to believe that the conflict will intensify and may continue for a long time before it comes to an end.”
He added that the problem many countries would face would not be limited to much higher oil prices. Securing oil imports from abroad would also become more difficult, and Thailand is among the countries that depend heavily on imported crude from oil-producing nations around the world.
Although Thailand’s oil reserves remain high compared with those of many other countries, Anutin said the country is still vulnerable as a major oil importer.
“We cannot remain complacent or continue managing oil in the same way as before. We must raise awareness and understanding of the situation and find ways to manage domestic oil supplies with the least possible impact on the public,” he said.
On the government side, Anutin said the Cabinet had already approved work-from-home arrangements for civil servants, along with other energy-saving measures. “Today, it is necessary for me to instruct all government agencies to enforce these measures strictly in practice,” he said.
He also called on the public and the private sector to save energy in similar ways, whether through working from home or working from anywhere, reducing the use of private cars and switching to public transport, sharing rides through carpooling, and using electricity more carefully.
Anutin added that additional measures might be introduced in the near future, and said he would explain the reasons for them so the public could better understand them and cooperate.
He asked people to remain confident that the government would do everything possible to ease the impact on the public to the fullest extent and would never give up or grow weary.
“I remain firmly convinced that every crisis comes with opportunities, and I have always been able to create opportunities to compensate for and replace what we lose during times of crisis,” he said.
“This time will be no exception. With the united strength of the Thai people, we will be able to overcome and get through this difficult period, just as we always have.”
Anutin added that the new Cabinet would be granted an audience with His Majesty the King on Monday, enabling the administration to begin operating in full.
He pledged that the new government would move quickly to solve problems and remove obstacles in order to restore a better quality of life and improved living conditions to the public as soon as possible.
