HÀ NỘI — Bình Sơn Refining and Petrochemical Co Ltd (BSR) on December 8 signed crude oil supply agreements with two trading companies – Glencore Singapore and Socar Trading SA – to supply the Dung Quất refinery for the 2018-25 period.

Under the initial agreements, Glencore Singapore will supply two million barrels of crude oil, comprised of 57 oil varieties, to the refinery each month between 2017 and 2021. It will increase the supply to three million barrels per month after the refinery completes expansion and upgrading in 2021.

Though the agreement is valid until 2025, the two sides will endeavor to maintain it until 2040, the officials said.

Meanwhile, Socar Trading SA will provide three million barrels of Azeri Light crude and two million barrels of 56 other types of crude each month between 2018 and 2021.

Glencore Singapore and Socar Trading SA have supplied Dung Quất refinery since 2010. BSR has imported about 10.6 million barrels of Azeri crude from Socar, while Glencore is on the list of BSR’s crude oil suppliers for 2016-18.

Co-operation with the world’s leading crude oil suppliers is part of BSR’s strategy to ensure a long-term supply of crude oil for the Dung Quất refinery.

“The agreement signing today will be one among hundreds of similar acts we will conduct in the future to offset the declining domestic supply,” BSR’s chairman Nguyễn Hoài Giang told reporters before the signing ceremony.

Secure future supply

In the initial stage, Dung Quất refinery is designed to process domestic light sweet crude, mostly from the Bạch Hổ (White Tiger) oil field in Cửu Long basin, but the domestic supply is projected to decline in the future.

BSR’s chairman Giang said a fairly accurate forecast shows that in the next four to five years, the domestic oil supply will be insufficient for Dung Quất’s production and the company is seeking other sources of supplies.

Located in the central province of Quảng Ngãi, Dung Quất refinery’s capacity is expected to increase from its current 6.5 million tonnes per year to 8-9 million tonnes per year in 2021 after upgrading and expansion.

Giang said the upgrade will increase the plant’s processing capacity from its current 67 to hundreds of types of crude from global suppliers.

“This [upgrade and expansion] will improve the factory’s overall efficiency, reduce supply risk when domestic supply is exhausted and raise environmental standards,” Giang said.

Quek Chin Thean, Glencore Singapore’s managing director, said Dung Quất’s technology is “pretty much in place and the key issue here is the good supply contracts and supply of good crude” for its optimal efficiency and profitability.

BSR reported positive business results in the first 11 months with VNĐ71.9 trillion (US$3.15 billion) in revenues, exceeding its plans by 15.8 per cent. It ranked 16th in the Vietnam Report’s list of the top 500 most profitable companies.

It paid about VNĐ9.06 trillion to the State budget from January to November. — VNS