Thai oil traders can now dip into national reserves to meet rising demand for diesel
Thailand’s oil traders are being allowed to use 70% of the country’s oil reserves until the end of next month to tackle diesel shortages.
Nanthika Thangsupanich, director-general of the Energy Business Department, said on Sunday that the consumption of diesel will be high until the end of February due to the high tourism season and harvest season.
She said the consumption is higher than expected because the economy is picking up, which she said is leading to this crunch.
Hence, Nanthika said, the department will exempt oil traders from having to reserve oil from now until the end of February, and they will be allowed to take out 70% of the reserves until January 31.
She added that this measure will boost the supply by 219 million litres, which should be enough to meet consumer demands.
However, she said, it will take a few days for the oil reserves to reach the provinces.
The traders can start rebuilding their reserves from March 1, she added.
The Energy Business Act requires refineries to reserve more than 6% of crude oil in their quota and oil traders to reserve 1% of their quota.
