Director-general Viraphol Jirapraditkul said yesterday that petrol demand should rise 3.2 per cent from this year's level while diesel would rise 2.4 per cent. LPG consumption in vehicles should increase 10.9 per cent, against a rise of 50.2 per cent this year, as the authorities expected more motorists to switch to natural gas for vehicles.

Meanwhile, bunker oil demand will drop 8.5 per cent, because the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand will switch from bunker oil to natural gas for generating power.

"We estimate that world oil prices will strike a similar balance to this year, where crude would hover around US$55 to $65 (Bt2,000 to Bt2400) a barrel, while Brent would move around the $68 to $75 bracket. Octane-95 petrol would cost about $65 to $75 a barrel. The cost of diesel would swing from $68 to $75 a barrel. Oil prices will fluctuate during a period of instability and crises such as the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Katrina last year," he said.

Fuel demand is expected to grow 5.1 per cent next year in line with the 4-5 per cent economic growth forecast. At this level, Thailand would need 1.636 million barrels per day of crude oil.

Imported electricity from Laos and Malaysia has increased by 39.2 per cent, natural-gas imports have grown 2.8 per cent, and imported oil shrank 1.9 per cent.

This year, due to the unprecedented rise in oil prices, oil consumption of all kinds has decreased from the previous year. The use of finished oil products has gone down by 1.3 per cent from last year at 709,000 barrels a day. Octane-95 petrol has dipped by only 0.01 per cent from 2005 to 125,000 barrels a day. Diesel consumption fell by 5.7 per cent to 318,000 barrels a day. The use of natural gas, seen as an alternative to oil, has jumped more than half at 62.8 per cent, while cooking gas, as used in cars, increased by half. Gasohol was also well received, with daily consumption rising from 1.8 million litres a day to 3.5 million litres - a 56.5-per-cent increase.

Total electricity usage this year has increased by 4.9 per cent.

Crude oil imports also dropped 0.5 per cent on an annual basis to 823,000 barrels per day. However, energy imports rose 16 per cent to Bt912 billion. Crude oil accounted for 82 per cent of the total at Bt749.79 billion, while finished oil products made up about 6 per cent at Bt79 billion. Natural-gas imports cost Thailand Bt18.8 billion and imported electricity Bt8.4 billion.