VINACHEM

As of quarter three, the balance of the fuel price stabilization fund had risen to nearly VND2.3 trillion, the highest since the use of the fund was made known to the public.

The Ministry of Finance in a report released on October 8 said petrol traders in the third quarter alone collected over VND1.1 trillion from consumers for the fund, which is used to compensate oil traders for losses they incur when the input cost is higher than the retail price.

In the quarter, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade let fuel trading firms extract an estimated VND403.46 billion from the fund.

The fund’s balance was recorded at nearly VND1.6 trillion at the end of quarter two, but the amount surged to around VND2.3 trillion at the end of the third quarter. The fund is kept at oil traders who have to periodically report their balances to the Finance Ministry.

In 2013, the balance frequently stayed at only tens of billions of dong, with many oil traders reporting a deficit, meaning the sum collected from consumers was not sufficient to compensate traders.

However, the balance has started picking up this year, from VND840 billion in quarter one to VND1.5 trillion in the following quarter, as the global oil price has steadily fallen while the local price has remained high.

The Ministry of Finance’s report also indicated 15 out of 17 fuel trading firms had the positive balance, with Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) reporting VND1.352 trillion and PetroVietnam Oil Corporation over VND265 billion.

Speaking to the Daily on October 8, the leader of a fuel trading firm said the prices of finished petrol products in Singapore had been going down.

Therefore, there is a likelihood that the domestic retail price may decline by up to VND500 per liter of petrol soon. RON 92 petrol is currently priced at VND23,560 per liter.