Building gasoline and oil reserves is buying insurance for the economy

On the morning of April 10, the National Assembly discussed in groups on socio-economic development plans, state budget, thrift practice, anti-wastefulness and many other important contents.

In group 11, Politburo Member, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung; Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Industry and Trade Le Manh Hung attended the discussion session.

Speaking during the discussion, delegate Dang Ngoc Huy (Quang Ngai Delegation) contributed opinions on the issue of national gasoline and oil reserves. He said that Resolution 70 of the Politburo on ensuring national energy security to 2030, vision to 2045 has clearly outlined the target of gasoline and oil reserves reaching 90 days of net imports by 2030.

However, currently we are facing a very alarming gap, national reserves currently only meet about 7-10 days of use. If including commercial reserves, we only have a maximum of about 30 days of use.

The delegate emphasized that we cannot operate a dynamic economy, with a scale of about 514 billion USD, ranked 32nd in the world, with a "fuel tank" always at a red alert level. The gap in reserves from 30 days to 90 days is not only about warehouses, it is a problem of strategic autonomy.

He asked why there is no independent national reserve system, when currently national reserves are being stored together with the warehouses of key enterprises, going against the principle of independent management of quantity and quality of the National Reserve Law.

According to the delegate, some opinions suggest that building independent warehouses is costly, but the price of a shortage of reserves is many times more expensive. When the world is volatile, a shortage of reserves causes major consequences such as people having to queue to buy gasoline and increased logistics costs, affecting key projects.

We cannot wait until we are thirsty to start digging wells. Building strategic reserves is buying insurance for the economy" - the delegate said and agreed with the direction of ensuring national energy security, including forming a large-scale crude oil reserve system, maintaining stable supply for at least 90 days.

To prevent this goal from being on paper, the delegate proposed that the Government and the Prime Minister implement breakthrough solutions such as drastically allocating budget resources, applying special mechanisms to immediately start construction of an independent national reserve system; completely separating strategic reserves from commercial reserves.

Promulgate a specific roadmap such as reaching 60 days by 2028 and 90 days by 2030. At the same time, urgently amend the Law on National Reserves and related decrees to create a legal corridor to mobilize socialized resources for warehouse infrastructure, but the right to control goods must absolutely belong to the State.

Delegate Nguyen Duy Thanh (Ca Mau Delegation) proposed to study and have solutions to definitively solve the energy problem. This is the biggest bottleneck for growth in the current context.

Therefore, it is necessary to give the highest priority to energy infrastructure development in the next 3-5 years, and at the same time study adjusting national planning and sectoral planning according to the strategic orientation of the 14th Party Congress and strategic resolutions of the Politburo.

Previously, appraising the medium-term public investment plan for the 5-year period 2026-2030 on April 9, Chairman of the Economic and Finance Committee Phan Van Mai noted that the medium-term public investment capital allocation plan and appendices did not clearly show specific projects on building the national energy reserve system.

Therefore, in the context of the complicated international situation, it is necessary to review and supplement projects related to crude oil, gasoline, oil, gas, and coal storage projects.

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