What does the factory say about the suspicion that the selling price of gasoline is higher than the import price?

Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (Quang Ngai) - Photo: TRAN MAI

Responding to Tuoi Tre about the article "Must buy gasoline at high prices?" published on July 10, Mr. Nguyen Viet Thang - Deputy General Director of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Joint Stock Company - BSR (operating Dung Quat oil refinery) - affirmed that the mechanism for determining gasoline prices is implemented on the basis of regulations in decrees on gasoline trading and is chaired, managed and closely monitored by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance.

Specifically, according to Decree No. 83/2014 of the Government on petroleum trading and the amended/supplemented decrees, BSR's petroleum products are sold to the market through petroleum wholesalers under term contracts that stipulate prices every 6 months and sold under spot contracts that are outside the term contract volume, on the basis of equal agreement between BSR and the wholesale enterprises.

According to Mr. Thang, BSR's gasoline and oil prices are determined based on the principle of equivalence and competition with imported goods and other domestic goods. Accordingly, gasoline and oil prices are determined based on the world price formula (published by Platts magazine in the Singapore market) + market surcharges (premium) and taxes according to regulations.

Premium is agreed upon by the parties based on an assessment of the market situation at the time of the transaction and taking into account the contract period, transaction premium in the regional market and imported goods to Vietnam as well as the comparative advantage between domestic and imported goods sources.

However, according to Mr. Thang, because the import tax on petroleum products from ASEAN countries (according to the ASEAN - ATIGA trade agreements) is currently 0, the import price is equivalent to buying BSR.

In response to businesses' complaints that the price of contracts to purchase gasoline from domestic refineries is not flexible and is rigidly applied according to the 5-1-5 principle, Mr. Thang said that the price of term contracts is applied for a 6-month period to stabilize both buyers and sellers, and is determined through a combined bidding method.

In which, the average price for each delivery cycle will be calculated on the basis of 11 days surrounding the date of receipt, including 5 days before, the date of receipt and 5 days after (5-1-5 principle) similar to import contracts.

According to BSR leaders, the application of average prices is flexible and can change depending on the agreement between the seller and the buyer.

In addition, regarding transportation costs, currently most imported goods to the Southern market (HCMC and neighboring areas) are equivalent to Dung Quat to the South.

For the Northern market, goods from China and Korea also compete strongly with BSR in terms of transportation.

"The selling price is the same formula, there is no difference between imported goods and BSR. As for the surcharge (premium), it depends on each time but is decided by the market, sometimes the domestic price is higher or sometimes lower but not much and the surcharge is agreed upon by both parties on the basis of mutual agreement, there is no forced contract" - Mr. Thang affirmed.

Therefore, according to Mr. Thang, some opinions reflecting that BSR's selling price is higher than imported goods, making the average selling price higher, are unfounded and do not reflect reality.

As reported by Tuoi Tre (July 9), according to some key traders, the average import price into Vietnam in the first 6 months of this year for gasoline was 21,650 VND/liter and DO oil was 18,850 VND/liter, while buying from domestic oil refineries for RON95 gasoline was 21,700 VND/liter and oil was 18,750 VND/liter.

In addition, the domestic factory premium cost is fixed at 2.8 USD/barrel for gasoline and 1.3 USD/barrel for DO oil, while this cost for imported goods varies by day and depending on the size of the shipment but the average price is 80 cents - 1 USD/barrel for oil and 2 USD/barrel for gasoline.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nha-may-noi-gi-ve-nghi-van-gia-ban-xang-dau-cao-hon-nhap-khau-20240711081940442.htm