Bangkok: Economic slowdown and private sector debt have dragged down diesel consumption to its lowest level in 11 months, contracting by 2.8%. This resulted in an overall average daily fuel consumption of 153.98 million liters, a decrease of 0.5%. Meanwhile, Jet A1 (air freight) consumption continues to expand due to support for domestic tourism under the "Travel Thailand Half-Price" scheme.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Sarawut Kaewtathip, Director-General of the Department of Energy Business, revealed that the overall fuel consumption during January-November 2025 was projected at 153.98 million liters per day, a decrease of 0.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Natural gas for vehicles (NGV) saw the largest decrease at 16.4 percent, followed by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at 2.2 percent and diesel at 2.8 percent. This is attributed to the Thai economy, which is projected to grow by 1.2 percent in the third quarter of 2025, but slows from 2.8 percent in the second quarter due to: 1. The slowdown in the global trade economy and high levels of private sector debt, which constrain the recovery of domestic demand, both consumption and private sector investment; and 2. The impact of temporary factors such as refinery maintenance shutdowns and temporary factory closures to relocate automotive production from the central to eastern regions to improve production efficiency.
While the consumption of commercial aviation fuel (Jet A1) increased by 7.8 percent, showing continued growth, this aligns with the average number of flights over 11 months (January - November 2025) which expanded by 5.63 percent. Furthermore, the "Travel Thailand with Half Price" economic stimulus measure resulted in a 1.1 percent increase in domestic passenger numbers. In addition, the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) began to increase in the second half of the year to upgrade the standards of the Thai aviation industry in accordance with international environmental requirements and prepare for the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Fuel oil consumption increased by 4.5 percent and gasoline consumption increased by 0.9 percent, due to the price difference between Gasohol 95 and Gasohol 91 narrowing to 0.37 baht/liter compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the consumption of Gasohol 91, Gasohol E20, gasoline, and Gasohol E85 decreased to 6.51 million liters/day, 5.05 million liters/day, 0.38 million liters/day, and 0.06 million liters/day, respectively.
The average daily import volume of fuel was 1,012,138 barrels, a decrease of 2.5 percent, representing a total import value of 75,160 million baht per month. This decrease was mainly due to a reduction in imports of refined oil products (basic gasoline, basic diesel, aviation fuel, and LPG) to 36,276 barrels per day, a decrease of 35.5 percent.
The average volume of refined oil exports was 145,780 barrels per day, a decrease of 21.7 percent. This included exports of gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, aviation fuel, and LPG, with a total export value of 11,908 million baht per month.