Bangkok: The Department of Energy Business confirms that the country has enough oil reserves to last 101 days. The Department of Energy Business confirmed that the country has a 101-day supply of oil reserves. The Prime Minister has ordered all refineries to halt production and expedite the distribution of oil to alleviate long queues at gas stations caused by trucks competing for fuel. Negotiations are underway to purchase oil from Angola and the United States. The public is advised against hoarding oil.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Sarawut Kaewtathip, Director-General of the Department of Energy Business, Ministry of Energy, discussed preparations to meet the public's increased oil demand during the "situation in the Middle East." He stated that the Prime Minister has instructed all six domestic refineries to accelerate oil refining daily without interruption. Currently, Thailand has six refineries that process 175 million liters of crude oil per day, yielding 32-33 million liters of gasoline per day, 75-80 million liters of diesel per day, 25 million liters of jet fuel per day, 13 million liters of fuel oil per day, and 6-7 million liters of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per day, in order to quickly distribute these products through all channels.
The Prime Minister acknowledged the problem of long queues at many gas stations in the provinces, explaining that this is due to the quota allocation for transportation and the purchase of fuel from "oil jobbers." Large trucks cannot fully utilize this capacity, leading to competition for fuel with local residents. Therefore, the Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Energy to coordinate with all refineries to expedite production and delivery to oil jobbers. He also assigned the Royal Thai Police, the Ministry of Transport, and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to facilitate fuel transportation by extending delivery times to various gas stations. The current domestic reserves are sufficient for 42 days, plus an additional 1.9 million liters from Angola and 620,000 liters from the United States, bringing the total reserves to 101 days. The public is urged not to panic or hoard fuel.
Mr. Sarawut added that the Department of Energy Business has inspected over a thousand gas stations nationwide over the past 3-4 days and found no evidence of fuel hoarding by operators. He emphasized that they will strictly monitor and control stock levels, and therefore urged the public and gas stations not to hoard fuel. The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Interior will cooperate to prevent hoarding, as there is sufficient fuel supply domestically. He also apologized to the public for the long queues at gas stations in several areas.