According to Reuters article published on November 8, 2022, Vietnam’s largest refinery will import 2.52 million tonnes of crude oil in the fourth quarter to boost operations, state oil firm PetroVietnam said on Tuesday, as authorities try to avert a fuel supply crunch.
Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP) will buy nine cargoes of 280,000 tonnes each during the October-December period, according to a statement by PetroVietnam, which owns a 25.1% stake in the facility.
Vietnam has been facing fuel shortages in recent weeks, with hundreds of petrol stations in its largest cities shutting down or limiting sales due to financial difficulties and tight supplies.
Top retailer Petrolimex said on Tuesday all of its petrol stations in the capital Hanoi are now operational around the clock.
The 200,000-barrel-per-day refinery, which was designed to process mostly crude oil imported from Kuwait, operated at 103.5% of its capacity in October and will maintain full operations over the coming months, PetroVietnam said.
Vietnam’s crude oil imports in the first 10 months of this year rose 17% from a year earlier to 9.4 million tonnes, according to official customs data.
Its refined fuel imports in the first 10 months of 2022 rose 22.7% from a year earlier to 7.1 million tonnes, but costs rose 124% to $7.37 billion due to surging global fuel prices.
