Vietnam buys second Bonny Light crude cargo

Vietnam's Binh Son Refinery (BSR) has bought its second cargo of Nigerian Bonny Light crude for the country's 145,000 b/d Dung Quat refinery,

BSR bought about 1mn bl of Bonny Light through tender for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2020.

BSR received its first-ever cargo of Bonny Light crude in October 2019. Vietnam bought a spot cargo of Nigerian light sweet Agbami crude in February 2018, but had never previously bought Bonny Light.

But imported grades still make up a small portion of Dung Quat's crude slate. BSR will prioritise the use of domestic crude at the refinery, including procuring spot cargoes of Vietnamese grades, to manage its costs in a volatile crude market, the company said last week. BSR has participated and won several spot tenders issued by Vietnamese state-owned PVOil to sell Vietnamese crudes.

The Dung Quat refinery is currently running at 100pc of capacity, despite a fall in domestic demand for oil products amid severe limitations on travel and business activity.

BSR is deferring the full maintenance shutdown of Dung Quat to mid-August. The shutdown was originally scheduled for 12 June to 1 August but was postponed after supply and logistics disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic affected the availability of some refinery spare parts.

By Yvette Choo