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Petrolimex buys first Dung Quat oil products
Petrolimex has made its first oil product purchases from Vietnam’s first oil refinery, the new Dung Quat complex, traders said yesterday.
The state oil product importer secured a total 258,000-324,000 tons of gas oil, gasoline and kerosene for July to December as Vietnam takes the first significant step toward ending its total reliance on fuel imports.
The firm will buy 20,000-25,000 tons of gasoline monthly, and an equal volume of diesel and 3,000-4,000 tons of kerosene.
The 0.25 percent gas oil cargoes fetched a discount of 80 US cents a barrel to Singapore spot 0.25 percent quotes, while kerosene and 92-octane gasoline were sold at a premium of 30 cents to their respective spot quotes.
The refinery is operating at nearly 60 percent of its 140,000 barrels per day capacity. State marketer PV Oil sold the cargoes to Petrolimex, which controls most of the country's downstream distribution, on a free-onboard (FOB) basis.
"Overall, Vietnamese oil demand is quite stable," said a trader.
The PV Oil supply will cover 10-30 percent of Petrolimex's monthly fuel imports.
Prior to the Dung Quat deal, Petrolimex imported a monthly supply of 200,000 tons of gas oil, 150,000 tons of gasoline, 70,000-90,000 tons of fuel oil and 10,000-15,000 tons of kerosene.
Dung Quat was commissioned in February after a 15-year wait and produced its first batch of kerosene, 5,000 cubic meters, in May.
Asia's oil product prices have been hit by lower imports from Vietnam, the second-biggest buyer of both gasoline and gas oil after Indonesia.
Singapore gasoline crack spread closed 81 US cents lower on Monday at $4.78 a barrel, while gas oil crack spread was at a week low of $6.21 a barrel.
Traders said weaker Vietnamese imports compounded the generally low demand in the region.
Petrolimex last week bought 156,000 tons of gas oil in a quarterly tender for July to September supply, down from 170,000 tons purchased in a second-quarter tender.
Dung Quat, which will meet a third of Vietnamese oil demand, will be capable of producing 250,000 tons of diesel, 30,000 tons of kerosene and 150,000 tons of gasoline every month, when it runs at full steam beginning in August.
thanhnien, reuters
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