VietNamNet Bridge - No longer solely dependent on imports, Vietnam now can make petroleum products to satisfy domestic demand at its local oil refineries.


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It is estimated that, due to economic growth in the next five years, the total petroleum demand in Vietnam would be 6.5 million tons and 8.5 million tons of DO.

Vietnam has one operating oil refinery, Dung Quat, which can churn out 2.746 million tons of petrol and 3.068 million tons of DO. 

The investor is planning to expand the oil refinery to raise the capacity from 6.5 million tons of crude oil to 8.5 million tons. The expansion is scheduled to be completed by 2021.

The second largest source of petroleum supply is Nghi Son Refinery which will be put into commercial operation in 2018. With designed capacity of 10 million tons of crude oil a year, it can provide 2.3 million tons of petrol and 3.7 million tons of DO. 

The condensate plants PV Oil Phu My, Sai Gon Petro, Nam Viet Oil and Dong Phuong can provide 690,000 tons of petrol a year.

It is estimated that, due to economic growth in the next five years, the total petroleum demand in Vietnam would be 6.5 million tons and 8.5 million tons of DO.

From 2018, the total petroleum supply from the two largest oil refineries in Vietnam would be 6 million tons of petrol and 7 million tons of DO, equal to 92 percent and 82 percent, respectively, of domestic demand. 

Vietnam will import 0.8 million tons of petrol and 1.8 million tons of DO from regional countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and China.

The use of domestically made petroleum products will bring benefits to both distributors and consumers. The products that BSR (Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company), the operator of Dung Quat, is providing have great competitive advantages compared with imports.

Petroleum distributors will not have to worry about exchange rate fluctuations if they distribute Dung Quat’s products (when importing products, they have to make payment in US dollars). 

They also can ask for flexible deliveries, and shorten the time for transportation and procedures. And they do not have to pay import tax.

To boost sales, BSR plans to sell products at the storehouses it rents, especially in the south, apply different delivery forms and increase transport by land, according to BSR’s general director Tran Ngoc Nguyen.

A report from the Vietnam Oil and Gas Institute shows that BSR's petroleum products have better quality than the Vietnamese standards. 

According to Vietnamese standards, the maximum sulfur content of petrol is 500 parts per million but BSR petrol has sulfur content at 30-135 per millionths, lower than the required 500 per millionths. 

Vietnam's standard allows up to 2.5 percent of benzene and aroma in petrol, with the content of benzene in BSR petrol 1.15 -1.46 percent. 


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Chi Mai