Benzene 91 to become unavailable in Thailand by 1st q

BANGKOK, January 14 (TNA) - The Ministry of Energy says that 91 octane petrol, or benzene 91, will become unavailable in Bangkok by late this month and in all other Thai provinces by the end of the first quarter of this year. Viraphol Jirapraditakul, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Energy Business, told journalists on Monday that refineries in Thailand have already stopped the production of 91 octane petrol, also known as regular gasoline, since January 1, 2013, but its sales have been allowed to continue until March to get rid of its stocks. Viraphol said orders for E20 petrol have risen from 1.4 million liters to nearly 2 million liters per day subsequently, as local oil retailers have been replacing 91 octane petrol nozzles with E20 nozzles and the sales of eco-cars have been increasing. The senior energy official acknowledged that the domestic consumption of 95 octane petrol, or benzene 95, has also risen from 100,000 liters to 1 million liters per day, predicting that after the sales of 91 octane petrol stop throughout Thailand, the domestic consumption of 95 octane petrol, also known as premium gasoline, should increase to 2 million liters per day and 91 octane gasohol to 4 million liters per day, beneficial to local farmers, as the domestic consumption of crops-based ethanol will likely increase to 3 million liters per day by the end of this year. (TNA)