Vietnam signs crude oil supply deals with SOCAR, Glencore
HANOI (Reuters) — Vietnam's state-run Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co (BSR) and state oil marketer PV Oil have signed non-binding term agreements with two western trading companies to buy crude, BSR officials said on Friday.
SOCAR Trading will provide 3 MMbbl a month of Azeri Light crude and 2 MMbbl a month of other types of crude to BSR's Dung Quat refinery between 2018 and 2021, the officials said.
Glencore Singapore will supply 2 MMbbl of crude per month to Dung Quat between 2017 and 2021, they said, adding that the supply could increase to 3 million barrels per month in 2021–2025.
These are the maximum volumes that the trading companies will supply and the refinery has the option to lift less crude, BSR's Chief Executive Officer Tran Ngoc Nguyen told Reuters.
Crude demand growth in Asia, and especially Southeast Asia, "has been tremendous," Quek Chin Thean, Glencore Singapore managing director, said at the contract signing on Friday.
Vietnam is becoming a net crude oil importer as its output falls and as the country increases its domestic refinery capacity.
"The signing (of agreements) today will be one among tens and hundreds of similar acts in the future to compensate for the fall in domestic crude supply," BSR's Chairman Nguyen Hoai Giang told reporters on the sidelines of the signing ceremony.
Vietnam's crude production fell 10.6% in the first 11 mos this year to about 273,000 bpd. The country had targeted production of more than 290,000 bpd.
The Dung Quat refinery currently processes about 6.5 MMtpy of crude, or 130,000 bpd. But officials said production capacity will be increased to between 8.5 MMtpy and 9 MMtpy in 2021, or 170,000 bpd to 180,000 bpd.
Vietnam imported 4 MMbbl of Azeri crude between January and November this year, Thomson Reuters data shows.
The crude deals represent nearly double the volume of crude that Dung Quat can process, suggesting that the refinery is unlikely to import the full amount, two Singapore-based traders said.
Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC (NSRP), Vietnam's second refinery, is scheduled to start up a 200,000-bpd complex in 2018.
Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Writing and additional reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Tom Hogue and Neil Fullick
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