Thailand's oil imports up by 7.6% in April

Viraphol Jirapraditkul, director-general of Thailand’s Department of Energy Business, announced that the country’s imports of oil equivalent in April went up by 7.6% year-on-year to a total of 984,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), compared to 914,000 boe/d in the same month last year. The import value in April was worth THB 115.27 billion (US$3.6 billion), up 19% from THB 96.72 billion (US$3 billion) in the same month last year. Industry observers attributed the increase in imports to the recent maintenance shutdowns at several oil fields in the Gulf of Thailand and offshore Myanmar. Meanwhile, exports of products in April went down by 11% on the year to 172,000 boe/d, from 194,000 boe/d. Exports were valued at THB 20.65 billion (US$648 million) in April, down from THB 21.05 billion (US$660.59 million). Gasoline consumption in April declined 1.5% while diesel fuel consumption was up by 1.1%. With the high cost of oil, consumers switched to LPG and usage in April rose by 5.6% on the year. (May 22, 2012)