Thailand hit by supply shortfall, temporarily eases standards for gasoline

A refinery outage resulting in a supply shortfall caused Thailand to temporarily ease standards on the quality of gasoline used in the country, sources said. Traders reported that the government has slightly relaxed requirements on the benzene and olefin content of gasoline, along with regulations on its reid vapor pressure. The government has taken this step to encourage imports and to make it easier for refiners to divert export cargoes to the domestic market.
The distillation unit at Bangchak Petroleum’s 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in Bangkok has been offline since a fire in July. The firm hopes to replace it by October. Traders added that the temporary waiver, which started in mid-July, will last until the end of September for refineries, and until November for retail stations. The retail outlets are given a longer deadline because they need time to empty their tanks to prevent incoming batches from mixing with the lower quality gasoline.
The temporary waiver is not expected to have a big impact on cars, since the standard specifications for gasoline usually provide some leeway for any adjustments that have to be made; the waiver only applies to gasoline, because the country has a surplus of diesel fuel.
Since Thailand moved to Euro IV emission standards at the beginning of the year, refiners had had to meet more stringent standards. (August 7, 2012)