Fuel consumption in Thailand declined by 5.2% during the first nine months of this year to an average of 130.3 million litres per day, down from 137.11 million litres in the same period of 2020, mainly due to the third wave of Covid-19 infections, according to the Department of Energy Business.
Demand for all fuel types in the transport sector declined, but those in the industrial and petrochemical sectors saw their consumption increase.
Travel restrictions to control the spread of the virus during the second and third quarters were the main reason for a drop in fuel demand, said department chief Nantika Thangsuphanich.
She said jet fuel consumption declined by 44.8% to an average of 4.31 million litres a day, down from 7.95 million litres in the year-ago period.
Petrol consumption dropped by 8.9% to 28.4 million litres on average per day from 31.16 million litres in the same period last year.
In this category, demand for unleaded gasoline decreased by 16.6% from 0.8 million litres per day to 0.67 million litres.
Consumption of gasohol, a mix of gasoline and ethanol, declined by 8.7% to 27.72 million litres on average per day.
Diesel consumption fell by 6.1% to 61.09 million litres on average per day from 65.06 million litres.
Consumption of compressed natural gas decreased by 19.5% to 3,100 tonnes on a daily average, from 3,850 tonnes.
A sign of fuel demand rising was seen in September when the government decided to ease lockdown measures, which included a night-time curfew, said Ms Nantika.
Demand for jet fuel rose by 17.4% that month to 4.04 million litres per day, up from 3.44 million litres in the same period last year.
From January to September this year, consumption of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) grew by 9.5% to 16.59 million kg on a daily average, up from 15.17 million kg in the same period last year, according to the department.
LPG used for manufacturing and petrochemical purposes rose by 2.1%-24.8%, but its consumption in the transport sector declined by 17.8%.
During the nine-month period, Thailand imported 889,936 barrels per day (BPD) of crude and refined oil, a decrease of 1%.
Higher prices of crude and refined oil in the global market caused the value of imports to soar by 43.6% to 57.57 billion baht a month, up from 40.1 billion baht in the same period last year.
Exports of refined oil declined by 2.1% to 195,666 BPD, with their value increasing by 49% to 13.09 billion baht on average per month.