The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has sent an urgent dispatch to the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group along with petrol and oil businesses and traders, requesting them to ensure petrol and oil supply amid an output decline at the Nghi Son oil refinery in early January due to a technical incident.

The Nghi Son refinery, based in central Thanh Hoa province and run by the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Co. Ltd, is one of the two plants providing 80% of petrol and oil for the Vietnamese market. Its residual fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) unit has been temporarily shut for fixing a leakage problem.

The problem is predicted to lead to a reduction of 20 - 25% in the refinery’s planned petrol and oil output on the first 10 days of January, according to the MoIT.

The MoIT asked the Nghi Son company and the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC, which operates the Dung Quat oil refinery in central Quang Ngai province, to maximise their capacity and use stockpiles or other sources to make up for the reduction.

The Nghi Son company was also told to quickly fix the problem and stabilise production activities.

Meanwhile, petrol and oil wholesalers were demanded to seek alternative supply sources and increase import so as to guarantee sufficient supply before, during and after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday in late January and through to the end of the first quarter, according to the dispatch./. VNA