The Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex) on February 18, 2009 signed a contract with SK Energy, a subsidiary of the SK Corporation from South Korea, for supplies of petrol.

Under the contract, SK Energy supplied Petrolimex with 180,000 tonnes of petrol RON 92 (South Korean FOB) and 540,000 tonnes of diesel fuel (Van Phong CFR) in 2009.

General Director of Petrolimex Bui Ngoc Bao witnesses the contract signing ceremony between Petrolimex (Deputy General Director Nguyen Quang Kien – right) and KPC (Deputy Managing Director Yousuf KH. Y. AlQabandi – left).

SK Energy Deputy President in Charge of Business Jin Hur, Head of the Department for Business W.J. Cho. Head Representative of SK Corp Office in Hanoi Kang, and Director of Elico Petroleum Trading Company Y.D. Kim were presented at the signing ceremony.

Petrolimex representatives included General Director Bui Ngoc Bao, Deputy General Director Nguyen Quang Kien, Head of the Import-Export Department Pham Duc Thang, Head of the Market Department Pham Vu Hiep, Deputy Head of the Import-Export Department Tran Tien and specialized experts.

At present, SK Energy is Petrolimex’s largest supplier of diesel fuel.

Petrolimex’s General Director Bui Ngoc Bao said that “with a great potential for diverse and quality exports, the Korean market, in particularly SK Energy, is Petrolimex’s main supplier of petrol and diesel. With its experiences and financial capacity, SK Energy is one of partners that the corporation may cooperate with to invest in tankers, storage facilities, oil refineries, chemicals, liquefied gas and shipping.”

SK Energy, one of the South Korea’s biggest giant petrol producers, has two refineries, Ulsan, which turns out 800,000 barrels a day and Inchon with 280,000 barrels a day.

The country’s refineries plan to boost exports and they are emerging as major suppliers in the region. Their products are sold in Europe, the US and Australia, as well as Vietnam.

Petrolimex imports all its petrol from SK Energy as it is high quality and first became a partner with SK Energy in the early 1990s.

In 2007, SK Energy began providing Petrolimex with diesel direct to Van Phong Bay in the central province of Khanh Hoa. From mid-2008, SK Energy provided petrol RON 95 to the corporation and the firm also won the bid to provide petrol RON 92 to Petrolimex.

At the working session, the two sides discussed the petroleum industry in both countries, and the price of crude oil and oil based products in the world, as well as the advantages and disadvantages in the petroleum import-export market, focusing on potential opportunities for Petrolimex and SK Energy./.

Nguyen Bang