The Ministry of Industry and Trade meets with petroleum business contacts on the petroleum supply situation. — Photo thanhtra.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has directed the Việt Nam Directorate of Market Surveillance to inspect four key traders and 20 petroleum distributors for signs of violations.

The numbers were revealed as the MoIT held a meeting with key import and export traders in the petroleum business on Tuesday to talk about supplying petroleum to the market in the first half of this year and directions and tasks for the next six months.

Information from the Domestic Markets Department showed that petroleum production from Dung Quất and Nghi Sơn refineries reached 6.87 million tonnes in the first six months of the year, equivalent to about 8.3 million cu.m per tonne of petroleum of all grades, up 4 per cent over the same period last year.

Imports of petroleum reached 5.54 million tonnes during the six month period, equivalent to about 6.9 million cu.m per tonne, up 6.3 per cent year-on-year.

The reason for the increase in petroleum imports is that Dung Quất Oil Refinery temporarily had stopped production for maintenance since April, so that traders had to increase imports to ensure supply.

So the total source of petroleum production and import in the first six months of the year reached 12.41 million tonnes, equivalent to about 15.2 million cu.m per tonne of petroleum of all types. Of which imports account for 44.5 per cent, domestic production accounts for 55.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, reports from petroleum trading businesses indicate that the total imported and domestically-purchased sources reached 13.8 million cu.m per tonne of various types of petroleum in the first half of the year, equal to 48 per cent of the MoIT's allocated minimum power source, a decrease of 0.28 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Consumption in the January-June period was about 13.2 million cu.m per tonne, down about 0.2 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.

Inventory was about 1.85 million cu.m per tonne by June 30, equivalent to the same period last year.

Thus, the amount of gasoline has met the allocated supply as well as the demand for use in the first six months of the year as planned.

Forecasting the domestic petroleum supply for the second half of the year, the Domestic Markets Department said that the total production and imports as reported by traders is estimated at about 13.3 million cu.m per tonne of petroleum of all types.

It is estimated that consumption is about 13.2 million cu.m per tonne in the last six months of the year. Inventory ranges from 1.8 to 2 million tonnes.