Gasoline prices today October 15, 2025: Sharp drop due to US-China tensions
Oil prices today October 15: World oil prices fell more than 2% as trade tensions between the US and China escalated, along with a forecast of oversupply from the International Energy Agency.
In the trading session on October 15, world oil prices fell sharply by more than 2%. The reason comes from trade tensions between the US and China along with forecasts showing that supply may increase while demand weakens.
Gasoline price today October 15: Sharp decrease again
Brent crude futures fell $1.38, or 2.2 percent, to $61.94 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 2.3 percent to $58.12 a barrel. Both crude futures fell to their lowest levels in five months. Brent rose 0.9 percent in the previous session, while WTI gained 1 percent.
Risk sentiment is rising as trade tensions between the US and China continue to escalate, experts say. The Trump administration is still planning to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea this month to ease the dispute, but a series of recent moves have made the market uneasy.
Beijing has expanded controls on rare earth exports, while Washington has threatened to impose 100% tariffs and restrict software exports from November 1.
China also announced sanctions against five US-linked subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean. In parallel, both countries will start charging additional port fees to shipping lines.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts the global oil market could have a surplus of up to 4 million barrels per day next year, as OPEC+ producers and other rivals increase output while demand remains weak.
Previously, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies such as Russia gave a less pessimistic forecast, saying that the supply deficit would gradually narrow until 2026 as the OPEC+ bloc continued to adjust production as planned.
The price gap between spot Brent and six-month contracts has narrowed to its lowest since early May, while that for WTI is the narrowest since January 2024.
The contraction suggests that profits from selling oil for immediate delivery are falling as short-term supplies are seen as more abundant, prompting investors to temporarily remain cautious as they await further signs of trade talks and the next OPEC+ production report.
Gasoline prices today October 15: Domestic prices drop sharply
Today's gasoline price, October 15, was adjusted according to the gasoline price at the regular management session yesterday, October 9, jointly by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in which gasoline prices simultaneously decreased sharply from 430 VND to more than 570 VND/liter depending on the type.
Of which, the sharpest decrease was in kerosene and mazut with nearly 600 VND/liter, the biggest decrease in the past month.
Currently, domestic gasoline prices are sold at:
- E5 RON 92 gasoline decreased by 486 VND/liter, retail price is 19,138 VND/liter
- RON 95 gasoline decreased by 480 VND/liter, retail price is 19,729 VND/liter;
- Diesel oil decreased by 434 VND/liter, retail price is more than 18,600 VND/liter;
- Kerosene dropped sharply by 571 VND/liter, retail price is more than 18,434 VND/liter;
- Fuel oil decreased by 562 VND/liter, retail price is more than 14,808 VND/liter.
The average price of finished petroleum products in the world between the price adjustment period of October 2, 2025 and the adjustment period of October 9, 2025 is:
76,138 USD/barrel of RON92 gasoline used to blend E5RON92 gasoline (down 2,578 USD/barrel, equivalent to a decrease of 3.28%);
78.322 USD/barrel of RON95 gasoline (down 2.366 USD/barrel, equivalent to a decrease of 2.93%);
86,298 USD/barrel of kerosene (down 3,088 USD/barrel, equivalent to a decrease of 3.45%);
87,660 USD/barrel of 0.05S diesel oil (down 2,308 USD/barrel, equivalent to a decrease of 2.57%);
392,696 USD/ton of 180CST 3.5S fuel oil (down 19,100 USD/ton, equivalent to a decrease of 4.64%).
In this price adjustment, the management agency continues not to use funds from the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund.
Looking back from the beginning of the year until now, the petroleum market has experienced many fluctuations. The price of RON 95 gasoline has increased a total of 23 times and decreased 19 times. Similarly, the price of diesel has also increased 21 times, decreased 19 times and remained unchanged once.
