Vietnam has bought its first cargo of U.S. crude oil for 2025, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources.
Vietnam, which is estimated to have made its previous purchase of U.S. crude at the end of last year, has now bought 1 million barrels of West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery, according to Reuters’ sources.
Vietnamese refinery Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical (BSR) purchased the American crude from commodity trading giant Mercuria, the sources added.
Earlier this year, Vietnam and the United States signed an energy and minerals deal worth $4.15 billion. The U.S.-Vietnamese agreements included PetroVietnam Gas Corporation signing long-term LNG contracts with ConocoPhillips and Excelerate Energy.
Among the other deals, Bình Son Refining and Petrochemical partnered with Kellogg Brown & Root for a study on sustainable aviation fuel, while PetroVietnam Power signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GE Vernova for gas-fired power plant equipment. Masan Group signed an MoU with the US International Development Finance Corporation for financial support in deep mineral processing projects.
In early July, the U.S. and Vietnam reached a trade deal, under which the U.S. tariffs on Vietnamese goods would be lowered to 20% from the initially proposed 46% in April.
“Vietnam will do something that they have never done before, give the United States of America TOTAL ACCESS to their Markets for Trade,” U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, announcing the deal.
“In other words, they will “OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,” meaning that, we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff.”
Vietnam has a large trade surplus with the United States, the third-largest surplus among America’s trade partners, which was why the initial tariff proposed by President Trump in April was as high as 46%.
To reduce the surplus, Vietnam could buy more American products, including energy goods.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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