Vietnam’s Binh Son oil refinery is set to receive one million barrels of West Texas Intermediate crude in January, its second purchase in three months as it steps up imports from the United States, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Vietnam has been seeking to buy more US goods to narrow a trade gap between the two countries since Trump threatened in April to impose tariffs on Vietnamese products.
Crude oil, liquefied natural gas, farm produce, and aircraft are among the US goods that Vietnam is looking to import.
Swiss trader Mercuria sold the one-million-barrel cargo which will be delivered on January 7-11, the sources said. The companies typically do not comment on commercial deals.
BSR last received WTI on November 14, the country’s first import since December 2024, data from shipping analytics firm Kpler showed.
That one-million-barrel cargo was also sold by Mercuria, one of the sources said.
BSR, which typically processes domestic crude, is importing WTI to replace Vietnam’s Su Tu Den crude, which is being exported, the source said, adding that BSR may buy 700,000 to one million barrels of WTI every two to three months depending on gasoline margins.
The refiner said on Sunday that its output of refined products in the first 11 months of this year is estimated at 7.24 million tonnes, exceeding its target. BSR has been operating at 120 per cent of designed capacity this year, and is looking to ramp up to 123 per cent-125 per cent next year, it added.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu in Hanoi and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
