Vietnam's crude and refined oil supplies amid Iran war
After the Iran War, Vietnam has diversified its oil and refined products supplies.
Import costs have risen exponentially, causing a high level of inflation and a trade deficit in the nation that is heavily dependent on exports.
VIETNAM RELATES TO KUWAIT
Vietnam imports oil to run its refineries. Kuwait supplied 80% of Hanoi's crude oil purchases last year, which was a total of?14,2?million metric tonnes, or 284,000 barges per day.
According to Vietnam Customs (and with no shipments for April), imports in the first four-month period of 2026 fell by 23% compared to a year ago, to 3.8 millions tons. Shipments from Kuwait dropped 37.5%, to 2.5 million tonnes.
Hanoi has been struggling to increase crude production in recent years, as reserves at major oil fields are declining.
The domestic production was unchanged at 8,2?million tonnes last year. In the period January-April, production rose by 14.4% to 2.9 millions tons. The country was trying to compensate for lower imports.
Refineries have?oil until July
Vietnam operates two refineries, which meet 70% of the domestic fuel needs. This is primarily for gasoline and diesel.
These plants are often operating above their designed capacity and can process over 16.5 million tonnes of crude oil per year. The plants have enough feedstock to run at full capacity for only the next few weeks.
Since its commercial operation in 2018, the Nghi Son refinery has been relying almost exclusively on Kuwaiti crude oil.
The 'war' has caused supply disruptions at the refinery owned by Kuwaiti and Japanese firms. In May, it said that the refinery had only secured enough crude to run through June and that it was looking at purchasing via spot cargoes or tenders.
The company has also diversified its imports, purchasing goods from Africa and the United States.
Kpler, a ship tracking provider, shows that since the start of the war on February 28, the United States, Nigeria, Angola and Oman have imported crude oil.
The second refinery in the country, owned almost exclusively by Petrovietnam and with a production capacity of 130,000 barrels per day, is largely dependent on domestic crude. It said last month that it had secured enough crude to run its full operation until early July.
Vietnam, despite being a net importer of crude oil, still exported a small portion of its production, averaging 2.5 million tonnes last year.
Imports of?LNG, fuel and other petroleum products
To meet the domestic fuel needs, Vietnam must import refined fuels.
Imports for the first four months of 2026 rose 28.7% compared to a year ago, to 4.1 millions tons. Liquefied petroleum gases imports increased 34.5% from 1.3 million tones.
Vietnam has asked its refineries to increase jet fuel production, after local airlines were forced to reduce some domestic flights due to jet-fuel shortages.
Normal conditions, the refineries are able to meet about one-fifth of jet fuel demand in the country. The majority of jet fuel imported by the country comes from China and Thailand. Both countries have restricted their exports since the start of the war.
Vietnam has been largely spared by the war-induced shortages in liquefied gas. It began to import small amounts of LNG?in 2023 when it opened its first LNG terminal.
The government plans to build LNG-fired plants with a capacity of 22.5 gigawatts, up from the current 1.6 GW.
(source: Reuters)
