Hanoi [Vietnam]: Vietnam saw an impressive spike in its fuel imports over the first two months of 2021. The country imported 1.93 million ton of gasoline and oil products, a rise of 43.1 per cent from the same period last year. These imports have a total cost of $1.7 billion, a staggering 56.3 per cent increase.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that this is likely due to recovering economy as Vietnam is coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic and expects fuel consumption to reach even higher levels than before. Furthermore, crude oil imports during this period more than doubled to 1.78 million ton with a worth of $1.1 billion, according to the General Statistics Office.

The Ministry of Vietnam recently requested fuel importers to step up their purchases amidst a period of reduced production from the country's largest oil refinery. This unprecedented complication was caused by a technical problem, resulting in the refinery cutting 20-25% of its output during the early stages of January.

Last year, Vietnam experienced an unprecedented shortage of fuel - even with its extensive network of 38 distributors and 17,000 gas stations. In response, hundreds of petrol stations in major cities were forced to shut down or restrict sales.

According to the Ministry, Vietnam is exploring the possibility of constructing a third refinery in Ninh Binh province with an annual capacity of processing up to 9 million tons of crude oil. This would increase the country's current domestic refining capacity by 70-80%, meeting much more of its fuel needs than ever before.