The stock of fuel is too small for safety: Ministry of Industry and Trade

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has warned that Vietnam's fuel reserves are too scarce to meet real demand and a significant increase is needed to ensure fuel security.
The country maintains a reserve of 370,000 cubic meters, which corresponds to 6.5 days of consumption, which is too little, according to a recent report.

The fuel is stored at 24 locations by the largest fuel distributors in the country, as the government does not have its own storage facility.

Over the past five years, Vietnam has never had to use this reserve, but the ministry has warned of unpredictable and urgent regional and global developments.

By 2025, he wants to quadruple the reserve to a monthly requirement.

Fuel distributors are required to maintain stocks to meet 20-day demand.

But in January-February this year, when one of the country's two refineries was forced to cut production due to a lack of cash, they did not maintain a 20-day supply, and this led to a shortage in the market, the ministry said.

Gasoline prices rose almost 38 percent year-on-year to June to VND32,870 ($1.40) per litre.

It has now fallen to the same level as in January, VND24,660.

Source: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/economy/fuel-reserve-too-small-for-safety-industry-ministry-4499170.html