Fuel consumption rose by 2.1% last year to 155.4 million litres per day (MLD), in line with estimated GDP growth of 2.6-2.7%, which was driven by tourism-related businesses, says the Department of Energy Business.
Total fuel consumption tallied 152.3 MLD in 2023.
Jet fuel consumption increased significantly by 18.3% year-on-year to 16.2 MLD as the tourism sector continued to grow, with more local and foreign tourists travelling, said Sarawut Kaewtathip, director-general of the department.
More than 35 million foreign tourists visited Thailand last year and more Thais travelled domestically, with the numbers increasing by 6.8% year-on-year thanks to tourism promotion campaigns, he said.
The expansion of air cargo services also contributed to higher demand for jet fuel, said Mr Sarawut.
Diesel consumption gained 2.2% year-on-year to 66.7 MLD, attributed to bustling tourism, state stimulus policies and capping the retail price of diesel at less than 33 baht a litre.
Demand for gasoline and gasohol, a mix of gasoline and ethanol, was flat at 31.65 MLD, down 0.01% year-on-year from 31.67 MLD in 2023.
Mr Sarawut said gasoline and gasohol consumption should decrease as electric vehicles become more popular, including battery EVs, hybrid EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs, in addition to expansion of the mass transit system.
The registration of passenger cars with seven seats or less grew by just 5.3% year-on-year in 2024, while the number of commuters using public transport increased by 11%, he said.
Demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) increased by 3.7% year-on-year to 18.3 million kilogrammes per day, with the largest consumption of 8.13 million kg per day from the petrochemical sector, followed by 5.8 million kg per day from households, 2.33 million kg per day from transport, especially taxis, and 2 million kg per day from other industries.
The consumption of compressed natural gas (CNG) decreased by 16.5% year-on-year to 2.7 million kg per day as the number of registered CNG-powered vehicles and CNG filling stations tended to decrease, said Mr Sarawut.
In 2024, the import of crude oil, LPG and refined oil fell by 0.9% year-on-year to 1.024 million barrels per day, with a value of 92 billion baht per month while the export of refined oil rose by 1.5% year-on-year to 186,035 barrels per day, worth 17.8 billion baht per month.