A PVN petrol station. Petroleum sales have fallen due to lower demand for transportation. Dung Quất oil refinery is also planning to halt operations for a while in Quãng Ngãi Province. — Photo baodautu

HÀ NỘI — Bình Sơn Refining and Petrochemical (BSR) is planning to halt production at the Dung Quất oil refinery as demand for petroleum falls due to COVID-19.

Based in Quảng Ngãi Province, the US$3 billion oil refinery has an annual capacity of 6.5 million tonnes of crude oil.

A report from BSR said petroleum sales had fallen badly due to the impacts of COVID-19.”

BRS said the pandemic had caused a sharp decrease in transportation demand, leading to a decrease of between 30 per cent and 40 per cent in domestic gasoline consumption in the first quarter over the same period of previous years.

A company representative told local media that social distancing meant domestic petroleum demand would continue to fall in April, adding: “Both the Dung Quất and Nghi Sơn refineries must reduce capacity.”

The firm said gasoline inventories at Dung Quất had reached more than 90 per cent, so they had been forced to store products at other depots at great cost.

The representative told Baodautu.vn the firm was considering its options, adding that if inventories rose to high, it would be forced to halt operations at Dung Quất and wait for the market to recover.

BSR asked the Government to minimise or suspend imports of petroleum products and provide financial support such as disbursement of zeros and tax breaks for the firm. — VNS