Thai Oil seeks to reduce Middle East crude imports

Thai Oil Pcl , the country’s top refiner, aims to reduce its imports of Middle East crude this year in an effort to boost refining margins, a company executive said. Middle East crude made up 80% of the company’s total crude imports last year, down from 90% in 2009. “Our slogan now is we don’t care what crude types we use. We must look at various types of crudes to improve margins,” said Pongpun Amornvivat, Thai Oil’s corporate commercial planning manager. Thai Oil has a refining capacity of 275,000 barrels a day of crude oil and other feedstocks, representing about 25% of Thailand’s total, and also runs paraxylene petrochemical and lubricant businesses via subsidiaries. The refiner will “aggressively” look to raise the amount of unconventional crude inputs it processes this year, Pongpun said. Thai oil’s refining margin rose by 48 cents a barrel last year, the bulk of which came from higher use of alternative feedstock, he said. Thai Oil, which is 49% owned by Thai energy giant PTT Pcl , plans to invest US$200-$300 million on refinery upgrades and capacity expansion. (January 19, 2011)