Of the 500,000-barrel quota from the Middle East, he said half could still be loaded via Fujairah, which is already beyond the Strait of Hormuz, and sent through a pipeline out to the Red Sea from Saudi Arabia.
The other half that had been lost, he said, could be replaced by supplies from the United States, South Africa and Malaysia, by suspending exports and redirecting those quotas for domestic use.
On crude quality, the minister acknowledged that the specifications might not match exactly, but said Thai refineries could technically adjust the production process through blending.
He added that jet fuel production, where demand had fallen, could also be reduced so that refining capacity could be shifted to increase diesel yield by another 8-10% to offset the shortfall.
Panurach said he felt deeply alarmed after seeing the figures.
The picture now, he said, was that Thailand was effectively waiting day by day for crude oil to arrive for refining.
He said Thailand normally uses 1 million barrels of crude oil per day to refine about 70 million litres of diesel and 35 million litres of petrol, meaning the country needs 30 million barrels of crude a month to meet demand.