Favorable cost efficiency with flexibility in fuel selection. Strong market position with good industry prospect. Rapidly improving financial profile through debt reduction. Strategic importance to PTT. Inherent industry risk coupled with low degree of upstream and downstream integration. Dependence on a small number of customers. The rating on Thai Oil Public Co. Ltd. (Thaioil) reflects the following strengths: Favorable cost efficiency with flexibility in fuel selection. Thaioil's strong cost position is supported by its large-scale operations, which has continuous production and high utilization rates. With one of Thailand's most complex refineries, Thaioil has flexibility in its choice of fuel intake and is capable of producing a big proportion of value-added products. If the price differential between sweet and sour crude
