Thailand's refiners, buoyed by higher demand and strong refining margins, boosted their intake of crude oil in the third quarter of this year.
According to data from the Energy Policy and Planning Office released November 12, the country's demand for refined products rose 3.5% year on year to an average of 1.33 million b/d in Q3.
Of this, 1.008 million b/d was consumed domestically, up 0.56% year on year, while 324,052 b/d was exported, up 13.8% over the same period.
The country's consumption of gasoline stood at 166,452 b/d in Q3, up 12.3% year on year. Diesel consumption in the quarter rose 5% year on year to 356,448 b/d.
The consumption of LPG, widely used as auto-fuel, fell 12.2% year on year to 208,561 b/d in Q3, following a restructuring of the product pricing mechanism which lifted prices.
BANGCHAK CRUDE THROUGHPUT
Thailand's smallest refiner, Bangchak Petroleum, raised its crude throughput in Q3 to 116,700 b/d, or 97% of capacity, up from 81% in Q3 last year, the refiner said November 10.
Bangchak runs a 120,000 b/d refinery in Bangkok and has more than 1,000 retail oil stations across the country.
The higher throughput in the quarter was mainly attributed to strong gross refining margins, Bangchak said. Its Q3 GRM rose to $7.90/barrel, up from $6.94/b in Q3 2014, as lower crude oil prices lifted demand, the company said.
"Although the Thai economy has not fully recovered ... the expansion of the tourism sector was at a satisfactory level as the Thai political situation has eased. This was another factor which helped to boost oil demand," Bangchak said.
IRPC, THAIOIL CRUDE RUNS
IRPC's 215,000 b/d refinery in Rayong increased its crude intake in Q3 to 177,000 b/d, running at 82% of capacity, up from 76% in the same period in 2014.
But the throughput in Q3 was lower than 192,000 b/d in Q2 as there were planned shutdowns of the reformer and diesel hydro-treating units over August 24-September 5, the company said in early November.
The refiner's Q3 GRM edged up to $4.78/b from $2.17/b a year earlier, mainly due to the lower prices of crude oil and other fuels used in production.
Thailand's leading refiner, Thaioil, raised its Q3 refinery utilization rate to 295,000 b/d, or 107% of capacity, from 85% in Q3 2014, at the 275,000 b/d refinery in Sriracha, the company said.
There was a planned turnaround of the crude distillation unit-3 at the refinery over mid-June to late July in 2014.
Its Q3 GRM was up to $6.60/b from $4.60/b in Q3 last year, largely due to falling oil prices, it said.
ESSO, PTTGC RAISE CRUDE INTAKE
Esso Thailand, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, ran 135,400 b/d of crude at its 177,000 b/d Sriracha refinery in Q3, up 6.5% from 127,100 b/d a year earlier.
Esso's Q3 GRM was minus 90 cents/b, still higher than the minus $5.80/b in the same period of 2014, due to rising crude throughput and margins.
PTTGC, a unit of state-owned PTT, lowered its crude and condensate throughput at the Map Ta Phut refinery to 196,160 b/d in Q3, down 6.2% from 209,180 b/d in Q3 2014. The Map Ta Phut refinery has a crude distillation capacity of 145,000 b/d and another 135,000 b/d of condensate splitting capacity, bringing total feedstock capacity to 280,000 b/d, the company said.
The crude intake at the 145,000 b/d CDU was 146,740 b/d in Q3, down 1% year on year.
The company's CDU GRM in Q3 stood at $5.11/b, up 6% from Q3 last year, due to lower fuel costs, PTTGC said.
