HANOI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam spent 992 million U.S. dollars on importing 1.1 million tons of petroleum in August, according to the latest statistics of General Department of Vietnam Customs.
The imported petroleum volume and value in August recorded increases of 19 percent and 36.8 percent, respectively.
This has increased the country's imported petroleum volume of all types in the first eight months of the year to 7.22 million tons, worth 5.88 billion dollars.
Compared to the same period in 2022, the import rose 22.2 percent in volume but was down 5.5 percent in value, Vietnam News reported on Wednesday.
The sharp increase in August was made thanks to the preparation of large petroleum enterprises in Vietnam, local media reported.
They planned to increase product imports to compensate for the shortage of petroleum supply when Nghi Son Refinery stopped operating for 55 days for general maintenance service from Aug. 25.
Vietnam imported 1.48 million tons of gasoline from the global market from January to August, up 38.4 percent from the previous year and making up 20 percent of the total.
In August, Vietnam witnessed a significant increase in petroleum and gasoline imports from all markets.
Imports from China increased by 12.2 percent to reach 629,000 tons. ■
