In July, Vietnam’s crude exports went down to the lowest levels since November 2019 due to the rise in domestic demand.
According to customs data, the country exported 267,081 t, or 65,000 bpd, of crude in July, down from 99,000 bpd in June. A sharp exports decrease was recorded to China, by 62% month-on-month to 28,000 bpd as China cut buyings from other sources following its large imports of US crude in the month.
Sales to Malaysia and Thailand, on the other hand, rose by 100% and 76% month-on-month, respectively. Malaysia bought roughly 10,000 bpd of Vietnamese crude while Thailand 17,000 bpd. Shipments to Japan were unchanged at 10,000 bpd.
Vietnam’s domestic consumption of crude was buoyed by a rise in sales to state-owned Binh Son Refining (BSR) for its 145,000 bpd Dung Quat refinery. BSR won spot tenders by state-owned marketer PVOil to sell Vietnamese crude.
Meanwhile, the country’s crude imports climbed by 30% month-on-month to 932,875 t or 226,000 bpd. The rise was supported by the Kuwaiti crude purchases os 194,000 bpd, up by 46% from June. The other sources of crude were Nigeria and Russia.
Vietnam did not purchase crude from Brunei in July, following the end of a term deal.
