Thailand's PTT reports on LPG imports
Thailand's largest energy conglomerate PTT has already imported 109,800 tons of liquefied petroleum gas through five
shipments since the end of April, senior executive vice president Chaivat Churitti said. PTT imported LPG in the form
of butane and propane which were shipped in separate tanks, he said, for safety reasons and transport cost
savings.
PTT imported 22,000 tons of the cooking gas on April 29, the first LPG import to Thailand in decades. The second
23,000 tons shipment arrived July 2.
The third and fourth of 40,000 tons and 23,000 tons respectively, arrived July 14 and the fifth shipment of 1,800
tons arrived, he said. PTT would import a sixth shipment of 22,000 tons, he added.
Chaivat estimated that PTT would import around 88,000 tons/month of LPG from August to the end of this year but the
final figure would be decided by the department of energy business. Due to the higher demand for LPG, particularly in
the transport sector, PTT raised its earlier LPG demand estimate for this year from 3 mm tons to 3.5 mm tons, he
said.
The energy ministry previously showed that during the first five months of this year, 600,000 vehicles were fitted
with LPG engines.
This brought the total of LPG-fuelled vehicles to 1.2 mm as motorists look to take advantage of relatively cheaper
LPG prices.
