Thai Demand for Ethanol-Mixed Gasoline Rising Fast
Date: 11-Jul-05
Country: THAILAND
Viset told a seminar on renewable energy the biofuel, also known as gasohol, was now selling 1.4 million litres a day, a five-fold increase from January.
"We are on target to reach 4 million litres a day by the end of this year," Viset said, without giving figures for overall gasoline sales.
Demand for gasoline, which lost government price subsidies last October, dropped 7 percent to 127,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first four months of 2005 from a year earlier, latest official data showed. Diesel, which continued to receive subsidies, jumped 9.5 percent in the same period to 366,500 bpd.
The government wants to reduce a ballooning imported oil bill by mixing 9 parts gasoline and 1 part ethanol -- made from sugarcane or cassava -- to produce gasohol.
It sells for 1.50 baht/litre, 6 percent cheaper than 95-octane gasoline. The price difference is the result of a tax waiver on gasohol.
Thailand, which imports 90 percent of its crude oil, spent 1.0 trillion baht ($25 billion) on all fuels last year, the equivalent of 15 percent of its gross domestic product, and needed to cut back on the rising bill, Viset said.
High oil prices have sharply inflated Thailand's import bills, giving the country a hefty trade deficit in each of the past 5 months of this year.
The government plans to end the use of oil-based MTBE in sales of 95-octane gasoline and 91-octaine grade by January 2007 and 2008, respectively, in favour of gasohol.