The Department of Energy Business (DEB) has revealed that Thailand’s economy shows clear signs of recovery as fuel consumption steadily increases, adding that in the first four months of this year, the use of various fuels saw a significant rise of 3.1% compared to the same period last year.
DEB Director General Nanthika Thungsupanit reported that an average of approximately 158.86 million liters of fuel was consumed daily from January to April. Petrol consumption experienced a notable increase of 5.8%, reaching around 31.86 million liters per day during the same period. However, diesel consumption decreased by 5.8% due to reduced travel compared to the previous year when COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.
According to Nanthika, the usage of jet fuel witnessed a remarkable surge of 92.4%, averaging 13.89 million liters per day from January to April. However, the consumption of LPG or cooking gas slightly declined by 3.3% to 17.18 million kilograms per day, while the use of NGV or natural gas for vehicles rose by 6.4% to 3.5 million kilograms per day.
Additionally, Thailand’s oil imports during the first four months of the year experienced a 7.9% increase, averaging 1.1 million barrels per day. On the other hand, oil exports declined by 2.6% to an average of 151,539 barrels per day.
The DEB predicts that fuel oil consumption will continue to rise in the second half of the year as the economy further improves. They anticipate an 11.8% increase in petrol usage, a 12.1% increase in diesel consumption, a 23.7% surge in jet fuel consumption, and a 20.2% rise in bunker oil usage by the end of the year. (NNT)
