The Thai Ministry of Energy will liberalise oil imports by allowing private companies to import finished oil products, to provide more options to consumers in the wake of high energy prices, according to Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga.

He said that the responsibility of the Energy Ministry is to regulate the oil business, to ensure fair competition while enabling the public to have access to fuel oil at reasonable prices, adding that, if oil prices can be lowered, the cost of living will decrease accordingly.

He noted that imported finished oil products, such as petrol and diesel, do not have refining costs, which are difficult to control, and any private companies which have the storage facilities and are capable of the importation should be allowed to do so, instead of relying on the current oil suppliers.

Pirapan made clear that the Energy Ministry has to regulate the business, to ensure that the operators can procure oil conveniently and quickly to meet domestic demand, but not issue regulations to obstruct oil procurement.

Cutting energy prices, including oil prices, is one of the top prioritise of the government under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. No timeframe has been set for the implementation of this policy though.

Thailand is both an importer of crude oil and finished oil products and an exporter of finished oil products. In 2020, Thailand exported finished oil products worth about 165 billion baht to neighbouring countries, such as Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.