Vietnam inks crude oil deal with Azerbaijan

Baku, December 4 - Neftegaz.RU. Vietnam’s oil refinery operator BSR has struck a deal to import 5 million barrels of crude next year from Azerbaijan.

The deal was inked by BSR and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR Trading, both state-owned firms. The Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co (BSR) said that its Dung Quat refinery will import Azeri Light crude oil in the first half of 2020.

The signing and announcement came after Vietnam scrapped the 5 percent import tax on crude oil imports on November 1, with domestic supply dwindling.

Crude oil output in the first 11 months was down 7.2 percent year-on-year, while imports rose 66 percent to 7.44 million tonnes (54.54 million barrels), according to the General Statistics Office.

BSR had earlier said it would import 8 million to 10 million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate and Bonny Light crude oil next year for the refinery located in the central province of Quang Ngai. The refinery has a capacity of 130,000 barrels per day.