“Phiphat” revealed that the Prime Minister signed an order to delay collecting oil reserves, maintaining only a 1% reserve to inject oil into the system to meet user demand. It is expected that this week the problem of gas stations running out of fuel will be resolved.
On 23 March 2026, following a meeting of the Center for Management and Monitoring of the Middle East Conflict Situation (CMCMC), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, in his capacity as CMCMC Director, announced the meeting results. The CMCMC held discussions with oil traders and refineries under Section 7 of the Fuel Trade Act B.E. 2543 (2000), noting that recent news images have shown chaos or panic at service stations where consumers have been unable to purchase fuel.
Mr. Phiphat stated that daily, refineries and traders under Section 7 have been injecting fuel into nearly 10,000 service stations. Previously, the volume of fuel delivered to stations and users was about 67 million liters, but recently the average has risen to approximately 82-84 million liters per day. Despite this increase, the supply remains insufficient to meet the total demand in Thailand.
Mr. Phiphat added that on 21 March, the Prime Minister signed an order suspending the increase of oil reserves collected from traders under Section 7, which was scheduled to rise by 0.5% on 31 March and by another 1.5% on 30 April, reaching a total of 3%. This increase is now postponed, maintaining the oil reserve at 1% as before the outbreak of the war. The government has discussed measures to encourage traders under Section 7 and refineries to release oil reserves into the market to meet user demand. The Prime Minister instructed that within this week, no service station should report a lack of fuel for sale. Traders under Section 7 have acknowledged this and are attempting to comply, while refineries are striving to operate at 100% refining capacity or even beyond, which is considered the maximum refining capability, releasing oil to traders under Section 7 to alleviate shortages and ensure sufficient supply for users. Importantly, B20 fuel will be available this week from companies and refineries to users and industrial operators.