According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s crude oil exports in December 2023 reached 237,689 tons with a value of over 163.4 million USD, down 23.7% in volume and 29.4% in value compared to November 2023.
For the whole year of 2023, our country earned 1.92 billion USD from crude oil exports with over 2.8 million tons, up 1.4% in volume but down by 15.5% in value compared to the same period. The average export price reached 682 USD/ton, a decrease of 16.7% compared to the same period in 2022.
Among the crude oil export markets, Thailand is the largest market. Our country exported 1.1 million tons of crude oil to the Land of Smiles in 2023, equivalent to over 744 million USD, accounting for 39.3% of the total export volume. The export price reached 673.5 USD/ton, a decrease of 16.7% compared to the same period in 2022.
Australia and Japan ranked second and third, accounting for 28.3% and 10.3%, respectively.
Notably, Singapore is emerging as a positive market for Vietnam’s crude oil in 2023, with the highest growth rate among all markets.
Specifically, Vietnam exported 119,428 tons of crude oil to Singapore in December 2023, earning over 84 million USD, an impressive increase of 417% in volume and 512% in value compared to the same period in 2022. This is also the month with the highest export volume in 2023.
Throughout 2023, the lion city imported 236,304 tons of crude oil from Vietnam, equivalent to over 170 million USD, an increase of 172% in volume and 141% in value. The export price reached 721 USD/ton, a decrease of 11.2% compared to the same period in 2022. This country accounted for 8.4% in volume and 8.9% in value.
Singapore is one of the most open markets with the largest trade volume in the world. This country has very few or no restrictions on imports or non-tariff barriers exceeding international standards (OIE and Codex). Over 99% of Singapore’s imported products are exempt from duty (except for cars, gasoline, alcohol, tobacco, etc.).
Crude oil is one of Singapore’s main imports. This country often buys crude oil from other markets to refine and resell on the market. In 2023, Vietnam exported over 30 types of products to Singapore, amounting to over 4.3 billion USD, a slight increase compared to 2022.
In Vietnam, our country has oil reserves of about 4.4 billion barrels, ranked 28th among verified oil reserves in the world.
Vietnam still has to import a large amount of crude oil to meet the inputs for the two domestic oil refineries, including Dung Quat and Nghi Son. 80% of the crude oil serving these two refineries comes from imports, while finished petroleum products still need to import about 30% to meet domestic consumption needs.
In December 2023, Vietnam’s crude oil imports increased by 48.3% in volume and 40.2% in value compared to November. For the whole year of 2023, our country imported 11.2 million tons of oil, equivalent to 7.1 billion USD, an increase of 9.7% in volume and a decrease of 8.6% in value compared to the same period in 2022.
Due to its strong dependence, crude oil and petroleum import activities are also strongly impacted by global fluctuations.
