By Shu Zhang and Khanh Vu
SINGAPORE/HANOI, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Vietnam's Binh SonRefining and Petrochemical has bought 1 millionbarrels of Bonny Light crude in its first-ever import ofNigerian crude, two trade sources and a senior company executivetold Reuters on Friday.
Binh Son bought the crude cargo in mid-August for deliveryin October-November for its 130,000-barrel-per-day Dung Quatrefinery, according to the sources, all of whom declined to benamed as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
"This is the first batch of crude oil we have imported fromNigeria for the plant," said the company executive, who declinedto reveal further details.
"We haven't decided yet if we will keep importing Nigeriancrude in the future."
Binh Son, Vietnam's first refinery, is stepping up effortsto reduce its dependence on the country's dwindling domesticcrude supply and widen its purchase options.
Vietnam has been relying more on imported crude due to aslowdown in domestic output as its reserves decline at existingfields, and because of China's increasingly assertive stance inthe region hampers offshore exploration.
Vietnam's crude oil imports for the January-August periodmore than doubled from a year earlier to 5.57 million tonnes, asits domestic oil output fell 6.9%, official data shows.
Last month, Binh Son's Vice-CEO Nguyen Van Hoi said thecompany would import 2 million to 3 million barrels of U.S. WestTexas Intermediate (WTI) crude in the second half of this yearfor the refinery.
Price levels for West African crude grades like Bonny Lightare competitive compared with regional sweet, or low-sulphur,crude grades in the Asian markets, said the two trade sources.
Oil major BP likely sold the cargo to Binh Son,according to other trader sources.(Reporting by Shu Zhang in SINGAPORE and Khanh Vu in HANOI;Additional Reporting by Noah Browning in London; Editing by TomHogue)
BP (BP.)
