Thai Oil acts to redress slump

Thai Oil, the country’s largest oil refiner, is placing more emphasis on risk management and tackling the problem of an oversupply of refined oil, because of the low refining margin that has hit the firm’s profitability. Surong Bulakul, who became the company’s chief executive officer in October, said these measures should boost Thai Oil’s profits this year. At present, the overall oversupply stands at about 200,000 barrels per day, 60-70% of which belongs to PTT’s refineries – Thai Oil, PTT Aromatic and Refining (PTTAR) and IRPC. Last year, the company suffered considerably from oil price fluctuations, posting a net profit of only 223.6 million baht (US$6.71 million) on 401.4 billion baht (US$12.05 billion) in revenues. (October 10, 2009)