Jul. 9 – The Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Administrative Reform is recommending that the five year limit on petroleum trading licenses be removed to cut down on administrative procedures.
The group advises shortening the time it takes to grant a petroleum license from 30 days to 20 days. Regular performance reports by petroleum importers and exporters are also recommended to improve government management.
There are 11 petroleum traders in Vietnam, the biggest being state-owned Vietnam National Petroleum Corp. (Petrolimex) with more than 51 percent of the market.
Vietnam imports mainly from China, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia to meet its oil and petroleum needs. Singapore and China are its largest suppliers.
In 2009, Vietnam imported 15 million tons of oil and petroleum. That figure is forecast to reach 16 million tons this year when demand increases due to increased industrial production and use of cars.
