Trade ministry tells distributors to import more fuel as shortage continues

By Staff reporters February 24, 2022 | 06:49 pm PT

A gasoline station staff holds a nozzle in Ho Chi Minh City, February 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has instructed 10 gasoline distributors to import 840,000 cubic meters of gasoline and 1.56 million cubic meters of diesel to overcome weeks-long shortages.

This is in addition to the extra 850,000 cubic meters of gasoline and diesel distributors imported in the last four weeks to increase supply after the Nghi Son Refinery cut output sharply due to ongoing liquidity issues.

The 200,000 barrel-per-day refinery is currently operating at 55-60 percent of capacity. It typically meets a third of Vietnam's needs, according to Reuters.

Petrolimex will import over one million cubic meters and PVOil, nearly 489,000.

Retail gasoline prices reached a new peak earlier this week after having increased by 12.8 percent this year.

As gasoline stations in the south continued to report shortages, the government on Wednesday said it would auction 102 million tons of RON 92 gasoline from the national reserves this month.

Vietnam imported 803,000 cubic meters of petroleum products in the first half of February, a significant jump from an average monthly amount of 500,000 cubic meters, government data showed.