Traffic density seen all day in Bangkok, Thailand.
Thailand has cheap gas relative to most nations ranked here (Price per gallon of gasoline:$4.42), but it's a steep price for many Thais. The average daily income is $17. The share of a day's wages needed to buy a gallon of gas is 25 percent. Pain at the pump in Thailand helped encourage wide adoption of three-wheeled auto rickshaws, known as Tuk-Tuks, in the country's biggest tourist cities. The open-aired vehicles use less gas but are less safe than cars and are big polluters.
Thailand most heavily subsidizes LPG through Thailand's Oil Stabilization Fund, a monetary reserve used to maintain lower domestic retail prices on certain fuels when global oil prices are high, at the expense of taxes on other fuels such as diesel and gasoline sales.
Thailand has limited domestic oil production and reserves, and imports make up a significant portion of the country's oil consumption. Thailand holds large proven reserves of natural gas, and natural gas production has increased substantially over the last few years. However, the country still remains dependent on imports of natural gas to meet growing domestic demand for the fuel.
According to Oil & Gas Journal,Thailand held proven oil reserves of 453 million barrels in January 2013, an increase of 11 million barrels from the prior year. In 2011, Thailand produced an estimated 393,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of total oil liquids, of which 140,000 bbl/d was crude oil, 84,000 bbl/d was lease condensate, 154,000 bbl/d was natural gas liquids, and the remainder was refinery gains. Thailand consumed an estimated 1 million bbl/d of oil in 2011, leaving total net imports of 627,000 bbl/d, and making the country the second largest net oil importer in Southeast Asia.
Thailand is a net importer of crude oil and a net exporter of petroleum products. The country imports over 60 percent of its total petroleum needs and almost 85 percent of its crude oil consumption, leaving Thailand highly dependent on global oil markets and volatile prices. About 78 percent of its crude imports originate from the Middle East, while another 8 percent are from other Asian suppliers. The country's oil import dependency has spurred the government to promote the use of other fuels such as natural gas, renewable sources, and biofuels as well as to boost crude oil and product stocks and to encourage investment in marginal field production.
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