HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam is expected to continue importing petroleum products for the next five years as production of major oil refineries is unable to meet the increasing local demand.

Annual demand for petroleum products is estimated at some 6.5 million tonnes and for diesel at some 8.5 million tonnes in the 2018-22 period, according to a report by Bình Sơn Refining and Petrochemical Co Ltd, which manages and operates the Dung Quất oil refinery.

Meanwhile, the two major oil refineries -- Dung Quất and Nghi Sơn -- produce a combined six million tonnes of petrol and some seven million tonnes of diesel per year, meeting 92 per cent and 82 per cent of domestic demand, respectively.

Thus, Việt Nam has an average annual shortage of some 0.8 million tonnes of petrol and 1.8 million tonnes of diesel, Bình Sơn said, adding that this shortage would be addressed by importing petroleum products from other countries in the region, including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea.

Dung Quất refinery, Việt Nam’s first oil refinery, at present, has a designed capacity of 6.5 million tonnes of crude oil per year. It produces 2.75 million tonnes of petroleum products and 3.07 million tonnes of diesel per year, accounting for 30 per cent of total domestic demand.

Nghi Sơn oil refinery, scheduled to become operational next year in central Thanh Hóa Province, has a designed capacity of 10 million tonnes of crude oil per year. It will annually provide the domestic market with 2.3 million tonnes of petrol and 3.7 million tonnes of diesel.

In addition, other condensate processing plants such as PV Oil Phú Mỹ, Sài Gòn Petro, Nam Việt Oil and Đông Phương supply some 690,000 tonnes of petrol per year.

Bình Sơn Refining and Petrochemical Co Ltd will make its initial public offering in the fourth quarter of this year, floating up to 6 per cent of capital for the public. The company is implementing works to upgrade and expand the Dung Quất oil refinery. Once completed by the end of 2021, the factory’s capacity will increase by 30 per cent to 8.5 million tonnes of crude oil per year

Việt Nam imported nearly five million tonnes of petroleum products, worth over US$2.6 billion in the first five months of this year, down 6.8 per cent in volume but up 27.4 per cent in value against the same period last year, the General Statistics Office reported. — VNS