Thailand Secures Safe Passage for its Oil Tankers Transiting Through the Strait of Hormuz — OPIS

Thailand has secured safe passage for its oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz following successful negotiations with Iran, Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced on Saturday.

The agreement comes amid heightened tensions in the region, as the ongoing war between the United States, Israel, and Iran has brought maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz nearly to a standstill. Iran has threatened to attack vessels passing through the critical waterway and stated that only "non-hostile" ships will be permitted to transit. The announcement was made by Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations on March 25 via X.

The successful negotiations have eased concerns over Thai-bound crude oil cargoes potentially becoming stranded in the Middle East Gulf region, while domestic fuel shortages at local gas stations in some areas are also beginning to ease, Anutin added.

Thai refiner Bangchak Corporation confirmed that one of its oil tankers successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz last week and is expected to deliver its crude oil cargo to Thailand.

The vessel is believed to be the 149,996-dwt Suezmax tanker Pola, which loaded approximately 1.02 million barrels of Khafji crude on March 10. It is scheduled to arrive in Sriracha on April 5, according to data from vessel tracking firm Kpler.

In addition to the Pola, the 75,570-dwt tanker Hai Tun Zuo loaded 515,815 barrels of naphtha from Al-Zour on February 25 and is also expected to transit the Strait of Hormuz en route to Rayong, Thailand, analysts said.

Beyond Middle East Gulf cargoes, Thailand has diversified its crude oil supplies and is set to receive additional crude and feedstock in April, including WTI Midland barrels, Angola's Clov Blend, Libyan Sarir-Mesla crude, and Forties blend from the North Sea. These April arrivals are expected to amount to 6.71 million barrels, according to Kpler data.

Thailand's largest refiner, PTT Group, is currently running its refineries at 105% of nameplate capacity. Diesel production has increased by 75% since the start of the Iran war, according to the Thai government.

Thailand operates five refineries that collectively produce approximately 35.28 million liters of gasoline per day, closely matching the country's daily consumption of 34.41 million liters. For diesel, six refineries produce around 79.91 million liters per day, comfortably exceeding the average domestic demand of 67-70 million liters per day, according to the latest government data released on March 23.

Besides Thailand, Pakistan and India have also successfully negotiated with Iran for the safe passage of their oil and gas cargoes through the Strait of Hormuz.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

--Reporting by Thomas Cho, tcho@opisnet.com; Editing by Lujia Wang, lwang@opisnet.com

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March 30, 2026 00:09 ET (04:09 GMT)