(VEN) – In the past, petroleum for a long time topped the list of Vietnam’s imports in terms of value. However, the petroleum trade deficit has gradually decreased and Vietnam has been a petroleum exporter for several years.
Dung Quat Oil Refinery
Vietnam used to be totally dependent on petroleum imports, but now with the Dung Quat Oil Refinery being operational, Vietnam can export petrol and oil. Data from the General Statistics Office show that in 2009 Vietnam exported 1.7 million tonnes of petroleum worth nearly US$850 million; in 2010 1.87 million tonnes worth US$1.27 billion; in 2011 2.2 million tonnes worth US$2.1 billion; 2012 1.9 million tonnes worth about US$1.85 billion; and in the first seven months of 2013 an estimated 800,000 tonnes were exported bringing revenue of US$750 million.
Meanwhile, the import of petroleum has been maintained to serve domestic needs such as production, business activities, the lives of people in mainland areas and on islands, in urban, rural and remote areas, and transport. In 2009, Vietnam imported nearly 13 million tonnes of petroleum. In 2011, it spent approximately US$9.88 billion on petroleum imports. Overall, data given in Table 1 below show that Vietnam has gradually reduced petroleum imports in terms of both volume and value. In the first seven months of 2013, Vietnam imported about 4.25 million tonnes of petroleum worth nearly US$4 billion, down 26 percent in volume and 28 percent in value compared with the same period last year.
It is predicted that petroleum imports in 2013 would be lower compared with 2012. Since 2010, the volume of petroleum imported by Vietnam has gradually decreased although the average import price in the first seven months of 2013 was US$941 per tonne, lower than US$975 per tonne of 2012.
To achieve transparency in petroleum prices as required by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the government’s regular meeting on July 30, prices of each kind of petroleum product must be publicized.
Petroleum products are diverse, including gasoline used for aircraft, automobiles and motorcycles, diesel oil, mazut oil used for trucks, ships and tramcars, and kerosene used for lighting and cooking.
The General Statistics Office provided specific data on the import volume of each kind of petroleum product in the last several years (see table 2). Clearly, the import volume of gasoline was not high and has tended to decrease (from 3.68 million tonnes in 2009 to 2.8 million tonnes in 2012); meanwhile, the import volume of diesel oil was higher but has gradually dropped (from 6.49 million tonnes in 2009 to 4.56 million tonnes in 2012), and mazut oil has been no exception.
Vietnam has become to some extent self-sufficient in terms of petroleum. However, to achieve a balance between exports and imports and further, a surplus in petroleum trade as what it achieved with rice more than two decades ago, Vietnam must accelerate the construction of petrochemical and oil refinery projects, especially the Nghi Son Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in Thanh Hoa Province, which was recently upgraded in terms of investment capital.
By Luu Tien Hai
Đăng ký: VietNam News
