Vietnam spent nearly $9 billion importing petroleum products in 2022.

According to data from the General Department of Customs, the amount of petroleum imported in December 2022 was over 944,000 tons, equivalent to 823 million USD. This represents an increase of over 22% in volume and nearly 11% in value compared to November.

In 2022, Vietnam spent nearly $9 billion to import approximately 8.9 million tons of various petroleum products, an increase of nearly 28% in volume and 118.5% (equivalent to nearly $4.9 billion) compared to 2021.

Diesel fuel was the most imported fuel, with approximately 4.74 million tons, accounting for 54% of the country's total imported petroleum products. Gasoline was imported by businesses at about 1.7 million tons last year, a 2.3-fold increase compared to 2021. Aviation fuel imports reached 1.46 million tons, a 2.2-fold increase and accounting for 16% of total petroleum imports.

South Korea remains Vietnam's largest supplier of imported petroleum products, with 3.22 million tons, an increase of over 96%. This is followed by Singapore and Malaysia, with shipments of nearly 1.5 million tons and 1.42 million tons respectively.

The upward trend in petroleum imports continued in the first half of January this year, with $0.54 billion spent on importing various types of fuel. This represents an increase of $223 million, or more than 70%, compared to the same period in 2022.

2022 was a volatile year for the domestic petroleum market. The Ministry of Industry and Trade offered several reasons to explain the localized fuel shortages in the second and third quarters, including the fact that businesses had to import fuel at high prices and sell it at low prices, and their operating costs hadn't adjusted in time, resulting in losses. This led to petroleum distributors cutting their discounts (the amount allocated to distributors and retailers) and reducing the volume of fuel sold.

Forecasting a surge in demand for petroleum products to support production, business, and post-pandemic recovery, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has assigned key enterprises to purchase and import 25.9-26.7 million cubic meters/tons of petroleum products this year, representing a 10-15% increase compared to 2022. The Ministry stated that it will monitor and urge enterprises to strictly implement the assigned supplementary import plan, ensuring a continuous supply for the domestic market and preventing any shortages.

However, in recent days, some localities have once again experienced the situation where gas stations close or announce "temporarily out of stock" during the Lunar New Year holiday of the Year of the Rabbit.

The Nghi Son Refinery experienced a technical malfunction in late December 2022, resulting in a reduction of approximately 120,000-200,000 cubic meters/tons of domestic oil supply in January compared to the plan. The issue has been resolved, and the refinery has been operating normally since January 15th. It is currently running at increased capacity to compensate for this shortfall.

In addition to being affected by the aforementioned incident, many gasoline retailers said that the decision not to adjust gasoline prices on the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, but instead shifting the price adjustment cycle to February 1st, while world oil prices were fluctuating and rising sharply, resulted in very low, or even zero, discounts (commissions), causing them to incur losses in their business.