Ensure enough fuel supply, never lack

Supply Petroleum never lack

The first questioning session of the Standing Committee of this National Assembly took place on March 16. The questioning session was held in the form of a face-to-face meeting at the National Assembly House, connecting online to 62 National Assembly delegations from provinces and cities across the country… so that National Assembly deputies could question questions online. Government members.

The fact that the National Assembly’s Trade Committee questioned the Minister of Industry and Trade and the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment showed that the National Assembly is closely following the major issues of the country that are of great concern to people and businesses, thereby help the Government manage and operate more effectively.

In the content of questioning the Minister of Industry and Trade on the morning of March 16, the issue of price control and management of gasoline was of great interest to voters.

“Currently, the situation of the COVID-19 epidemic is still complicated and difficult to predict, along with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has affected the increase in gasoline prices, leading to an increase in input factors. Could you please tell me what solutions the Ministry has in the immediate as well as in the long term?”, asked Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan, a member of the National Assembly of Tra Vinh province.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien answered questions. (Photo: Doan Tan – VNA)

In response to this question, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said: “We save the world’s price increase margin to be 40-60%, but our margin is only 29-40%, which is the highest. Thus, we have made great efforts and flexibly operated the stabilization fund, although the fund balance is not large, we have tried to offer a support level of 500 – 1,500 VND/ Therefore, the price of petrol has decreased and recently, when the price skyrocketed like that, the Ministry has also made efforts together with the Ministry of Finance to advise the Government to issue a resolution to propose to the National Assembly Standing Committee. consider reducing environmental tax to contribute to reducing gasoline prices in the country, helping the economy recover and not increasing the PCI index.

Continuing to question Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, Mr. Nguyen Dai Thang, a member of the National Assembly of Hung Yen province, asked the question: “What solution should the Minister have in the coming time to ensure the harmony of interests between the two sides? The State, businesses and people must ensure an adequate supply of petroleum in the country.

Responding to the above question, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien commented: “All key enterprises that have the function of importing and trading petroleum must import enough output due to the shortage of Nghi Son factory to ensure adequate supply. With this drastic direction, by mid-February, the domestic petroleum supply is confirmed to be enough to meet the end of March. Thus, the supply is never short of.”

With the high price range of petrol and oil, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that it has tried to manage the domestic increase at an acceptable level, with tools other than the stabilization fund, which are taxes, fees, policies. Security.

According to the Ministry of Finance, when the world price of RON92 gasoline is at 130 USD/barrel, the taxes and fees charged on the gasoline price include: import tax accounted for 8%, VAT 10%, normed cost accounted for 6%, normed profit, deduction for stabilization fund, environmental protection tax, value added tax. Tax/petrol price ratio is 33.5%. Thus, with crude oil price of 130 USD, the base price is 30,800 VND/liter.

Vietnam’s petroleum reserves can only meet 5-7 days

One of the most important supplies to ensure in times of emergency is circulating stock. According to regulations, a country has a national reserve, while an enterprise has a regulation on reserve and circulation for 20 days. However, in reality, the amount of petroleum reserves is currently not large. In order to be stable, the reserve level must be raised, even tens of times higher than the current level. However, at present, there is an ambiguity between the two reserves of the state and enterprises, while the budget still has to pay to key enterprises to reserve petroleum.

“According to the provisions of Decree No. 95 of 2021 on petrol and oil trading, petrol and oil wholesalers must ensure a stable level of compulsory petrol and oil reserves, which is at least equal to 20 days of supply. Have the major petroleum traders stocked up in accordance with regulations?”, asked Mr. Trinh Lam Sinh, a member of the National Assembly of An Giang province.

Responding to this question, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said: “We have reserves, but the reserve is very small, only meeting the demand for 5-7 days and this fund is only used in the event of an emergency. We will work with relevant ministries and sectors to research and advise to raise the reserve level.”

After the reply of Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue asked the head of Industry and Trade to explain more about the issue of petroleum reserves.

“The country has a national reserve of petroleum. According to the previous Decree 83, petroleum hubs must always have a reserve of at least 20 days for circulation. The delegates wanted the Ministry of Industry and Trade to clarify the matter. when we go to check whether the petroleum trading hubs have a reserve for circulation in accordance with the law, especially these hubs both act as a reserve for circulation and as a national reserve. So, do these key merchants confuse the national reserve with the circulating reserve of the business?” National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue raised the issue.

Responding to the question raised by the President of the National Assembly, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said that about the national reserve of petroleum, because we do not currently have our own warehouse system, we are assigning this reserve to businesses. especially the leading enterprises. This is an unreasonable mechanism. The Ministry has been working on a roadmap to submit to competent authorities for consideration and redesign of this fund management model.

At the questioning session of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh stated the method of managing petrol and oil prices according to the market mechanism, but with the control and regulation of the State to ensure macroeconomic stability. scale, do not let petroleum products affect production and social security.

Supply and regulation of petrol prices are issues of concern to the National Assembly deputies. (Illustration image – Photo: Investment Newspaper)

The government has issued many regulations and decrees and now has a full range of legal tools to strictly manage this commodity in all 3 areas: production, import and distribution.

The question-and-answer session on March 16 went into topical issues of concern to the people, frankly recognizing the shortcomings and limitations in order to have early solutions to overcome them.

The question-and-answer session showed that, although petroleum management is a hot issue and is of great interest to people and businesses, the National Assembly deputies have exercised their supervisory powers and did not make it difficult for members of the Government. , which helps the Government to solve the current difficult problems.

The domestic gasoline price is currently much lower than that of many countries. However, when the stabilization fund is about to run out, what tools will be replaced to regulate the price of this item?

The national petroleum reserve mechanism does not have its own warehouse system, so it is assigned to the focal enterprise, leading to many inadequacies. How should it be adjusted?

These questions will be answered in the program Today’s problem (March 16), with the participation of Mr. Pham Van Hoa, Member of the National Assembly of Dong Thap province, and Dr. Vu Dinh Anh, Former Vice President of Market Research Institute – Price. Please watch the video above!

* Invite readers to watch programs broadcast by Vietnam Television on TV Online and VTVGo!