Thailand Says It Will Buy More Oil From Malaysia (Update1)
By Rajat Bhattacharya and Anuchit Nguyen
Bangkok, April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand will buy more crude oil from Malaysia, replacing some of its purchases from the Middle East to reduce transport costs, said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The agreement is the first development from Thaksin's visit to Kuala Lumpur this week where he met Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Thaksin chose Malaysia as the first stop on his first overseas trip as prime minister, saying he wants closer ties with his neighbor.
``I've discussed with Dr. Mahathir our plan to buy more oil from Malaysia,'' Thaksin said after returning from his two-day trip that also took him to Vietnam. ``Malaysia is one of the biggest producers in the region and the distance is shorter than to the Middle East,'' he said, without giving purchase details.
Thaksin, who was elected two months ago, said he plans to borrow many of Mahathir's ideas in banking, finance and electronic industries to strengthen Thailand's economy, which is slowing because of a slump in exports to the U.S. and Japan.
Thailand depends on imports to meet almost 90 percent of its crude oil needs. This year crude oil imports are likely to rise almost 14 percent to 728,000 barrels per day, while domestic output falls 3.2 percent to 51,400 barrels per day, according to the National Energy Policy Office. |
