Vietnam’s sole oil refinery imports crude oil first time in nine months

PetroVietnam last bought 100,253 tons of crude oil to feed the 6.5 million tons/year facility, located in the central region, in July 2015. Dung Quat is designed to consume mostly domestic Bach Ho crude, which is a high quality grade but is expensive. PetroVietnam has planned to mix Bach Ho with low-priced imported crude to cut production costs.

Dung Quat meets more than 30 percent of Vietnam’s oil products demand with the remaining volume being sourced from imports. The domestic supply is expected to increase next year when PetroVietnam and foreign investors begin production at the country’s second refinery at Nghi Son in the northern central province of Thanh Hoa. Nghi Son will have capacity of 10 million tons/year and will use crude oil from Kuwait.