Vietnam’s BSR Signs Crude Supply Framework Deals With Chevron and ExxonMobil

Vietnam National Industry-Energy Group (PVN) signed separate framework agreements with Chevron and ExxonMobil this week to explore crude oil supply for the Dung Quat Refinery, the country’s oldest refinery, as operator Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical (BSR) works to widen its base of foreign crude suppliers. The ExxonMobil Asia Pacific agreement was signed on September 23 in New York, witnessed by Vietnam’s Party General Secretary and State President To Lam during a roundtable with US corporate executives, PVN said in statements published this week; the Chevron agreement, signed separately, could also extend to LNG and LPG supply.

A refinery reaching for a wider crude slate

Dung Quat, located in the central province of Quang Ngai, has a processing capacity of about 148,000 barrels a day. BSR said it has spent 2026 testing three additional crude grades, taking the total number of crude types the refinery can now process to 40 — 12 domestic and 28 imported. That flexibility matters because Vietnam’s own crude fields are maturing: BSR imported roughly 8.28 million tonnes of crude last year, about 31% of its total feedstock, drawing on cargoes from West Africa, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia, and the company has said it expects imports to account for close to 15% of throughput this year as it works new grades into the blend. Neither PVN nor BSR disclosed volume or price terms for the Chevron and ExxonMobil framework agreements, which set out a mechanism for future crude purchases rather than binding supply contracts.

Separate from PVN’s larger deal with Murphy Oil

The Chevron and ExxonMobil agreements were announced alongside a separate, more clearly defined deal: PVN also signed agreements with Murphy Oil to support production of about 57.4 million barrels of oil and 68.8 trillion British thermal units of gas from the Lac Da Vang field in Block 15-1/05, offshore Vietnam, through 2039. PVN put the total commercial value of the Murphy Oil arrangements at more than $4.1 billion, covering oil extraction, coordinated oil sales, gas trading and connecting transport infrastructure. That figure applies specifically to the Murphy Oil field-development agreements and not to the Chevron or ExxonMobil crude-supply framework agreements, which were structured differently and carry no disclosed value.

Diversification as a hedge against a volatile market

PVN described the new supplier agreements as part of an effort to diversify feedstock sources “amid increasingly volatile global energy markets,” language that reflects Vietnam’s broader push to reduce dependence on any single crude source as ExxonMobil and other US majors expand their footprint in Asian supply chains. BSR is separately pursuing a $1.489 billion project to raise Dung Quat’s capacity from 148,000 to 171,000 barrels a day, targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2028, a project that will require an even broader and more reliable set of crude suppliers once it comes online. The framework structure of the Chevron and ExxonMobil deals — agreements to explore supply rather than firm offtake contracts — leaves the size of any eventual crude flows to Dung Quat undetermined for now, but it gives BSR a wider set of counterparties to draw on as it works to cut its reliance on any single import region.

Sources

• Rigzone, “Chevron, ExxonMobil Agree Potential Crude Supply to Vietnam,” September 28, 2026 — PVN statement details, Murphy Oil/Lac Da Vang figures and $4.1 billion value, BSR import-share data. rigzone.com
• Vietnam Investment Review, “BSR signs crude oil purchase framework agreement with ExxonMobil Asia Pacific,” September 28, 2026 — signing date and location, To Lam’s attendance, BSR crude-grade processing figures. vir.com.vn
• Hydrocarbon Engineering, “BSR signs crude oil purchase framework agreement with ExxonMobil Asia Pacific,” September 28, 2026 — independent trade-press confirmation of the agreement. hydrocarbonengineering.com

Illustrative image. Photo: Wilfredor, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons — source