Vietnam spends US$13 billion on oil and petrol imports in 10 months

Of the figures, the country imported over 9.02 million tonnes of crude oil worth US$5.7 billion, up 11.6% in volume but down 10% in value year on year.

It mainly imported crude oil from the Kuwaiti market with 7.15 million tonnes purchased during the reviewed period, an increase of 4.5% and accounting for nearly 80% of the country's overall crude oil imports.

The past 10 months of the year witnessed local businesses import 8.79 million tonnes of petroleum of all types worth US$7.34 billion, up 22.2% in volume but down 0.6% in value year on year.

The businesses also purchased 4.92 million tonnes of diesel and 1.78 million tonnes of gasoline, up 24.5% and 29.3% respectively.

As of the end of October, imports from all markets had significantly increased. The Republic of Korea was the largest supplier, with 3.53 million tonnes, followed by Singapore 1.91 million tonnes, Malaysia 1.62 million tonnes, and China - 850,000 tonnes.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese crude oil exports also decreased significantly in value due to a decline in oil prices globally. Statistics indicate that 10-month crude oil exports fell 1% in volume to 2.27 million tonnes.