Cambodia's ban on refined oil imports from Thailand should not have a significant impact on oil companies as they can adjust their sales, shipping their products to other countries in Asia, says the Department of Energy Business (DOEB).
Thai companies export almost 6 million litres of oil a day to Cambodia, which can be shifted to other countries such as Singapore, said Sarawut Kaewtathip, director-general of DOEB.
Thailand has six oil refineries, with the trio of Thai Oil, IRPC and PTT Global Chemical under PTT Group, while Bangchak Corporation and Bangchak Sriracha are under Bangchak Group, and Star Petroleum Refining is the sixth.
The six refineries produce a total of nearly 160 million litres of refined oil a day, with 130-135 million litres a day sold domestically.
"There should not be a problem if they sell the remainder to other countries," said Mr Sarawut.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet issued the suspension of oil imports to take effect after midnight on June 22 in response to the Thai-Cambodian border dispute.
All of Cambodia's oil is imported, amounting to 10 million litres a day on average.
Thailand was the largest seller of refined oil to Cambodia before the ban, in large part because of its inexpensive market prices, according to an Energy Ministry official who requested anonymity.
The shipping cost of refined oil from Thailand to Cambodia is one baht a litre lower than that from Singapore to Cambodia.
The cost is also lower than shipments from Malaysia and Vietnam, the official said. Cambodia said earlier it plans to buy more oil from these two countries.
Thai oil refineries are mostly located in the Eastern Economic Corridor, which is not far from Cambodia.
"The oil ban means Cambodia will lose an opportunity to benefit from low shipping costs," the official said.
For Thai oil companies, if they do not export refined oil to other countries, they can reduce production capacity and shift to major maintenance programmes for unused facilities, noted the official.
Last year Thailand exported 2.29 billion litres of oil to Cambodia, representing 21.1% of total fuel exports, according to the Energy Ministry.
SET-listed PTT Oil and Retail Business, a subsidiary of PTT Group, said earlier Cambodia's ban on energy imports from Thailand would not seriously affect its trade through 186 petrol stations in Cambodia.
The company, through its subsidiary PTT Cambodia Ltd, will continue to sell the remaining amount of oil at each station until it is sold out.