BSR Signs Crude Oil Framework Agreement with ExxonMobil Asia Pacific

Overview

BSC signed a framework agreement to purchase crude oil with ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, the regional arm of ExxonMobil, at a high-level business roundtable in New York on 23 September 2026. The agreement adds a new international supply channel for the Dung Quat refinery and extends BSR’s crude diversification programme, which already includes a supply agreement with Chevron. BSR trades on HOSE under the ticker BSR.

Key Facts

• Framework agreement signed on 23 September 2026 in New York, witnessed by General Secretary and President Tô Lâm and senior officials from both countries.
• Counterparty is ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, part of ExxonMobil Corporation.
• BSR General Director Nguyễn Việt Thắng presented the agreement on behalf of the company.
• BSR has tested three additional crude grades since the start of 2026, raising the Dung Quat refinery’s processable slate to 40 grades: 12 domestic and 28 imported.
• In 2026 BSR mastered processing Nigeria’s Erha crude at a maximum blend ratio of about 45% by volume, and Sao Vàng - Đại Nguyệt condensate at up to about 12% by volume.
• The Dung Quat refinery imported approximately 8.28 million tonnes of crude in 2025, of which imported crude accounted for about 31%.
• For 2026, BSR targets imported crude at roughly 15% of feedstock, sourced from West Africa, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia.
• The announcement does not disclose contract volumes, pricing formula or duration.

What Happened

According to the company’s announcement, the framework agreement was exchanged during a senior roundtable with US business leaders held in New York on the morning of 23 September 2026. BSR General Director Nguyễn Việt Thắng handed over the framework document with ExxonMobil Asia Pacific in the presence of General Secretary and President Tô Lâm and other senior officials from Vietnam and the United States. BSR framed the move as opening an additional cooperation channel for feedstock supply to the Dung Quat refinery.

The company said the ExxonMobil agreement sits within a broader push to diversify crude sources, improve operational flexibility and respond to increasingly unpredictable international energy markets. Since early 2026 BSR has actively screened and expanded crude supply from multiple regions, including the United States, and has signed crude supply agreements with Chevron. BSR also highlighted the refinery’s widening crude diet, noting successful trials of three new grades this year and mastery of Erha and Sao Vàng - Đại Nguyệt condensate blending.

Market Context

BSR closed at VND 30,400 on 25 September 2026 on HOSE. The stock sits in the oil and gas sector, where sentiment tracks Brent crude, regional refining margins and the spread between domestic and imported feedstock costs. BSR’s refining economics depend heavily on crude slate flexibility and product cracks, so supply-side announcements of this kind are read alongside quarterly gross refining margin disclosures rather than as standalone earnings drivers. The agreement also lands in a period of active Vietnam-US commercial engagement, with state-linked energy companies featuring prominently in bilateral deal flows.

Strategic Significance

The strategic value lies in optionality rather than volume. A framework agreement with ExxonMobil Asia Pacific gives BSR a standing commercial channel to US and Asia-Pacific crude grades, which matters because the refinery’s margin depends on switching feedstock as differentials move. BSR’s crude slate has already reached 40 grades, and each added supplier reduces concentration risk from traditional Middle Eastern and domestic sources. For long-term investors, the thesis is that BSR is converting a single-refinery asset into a more flexible processor, which should narrow the discount the market applies to its earnings volatility. The agreement does not by itself change near-term throughput or margin, and no volumes or pricing terms were disclosed.

What to Watch

• Quarterly disclosures of crude throughput, imported crude share and gross refining margin for Q3 and Q4 2026.
• Any follow-on announcement specifying ExxonMobil contract volumes, pricing basis or delivery schedule.
• Progress on the Dung Quat refinery upgrade and expansion project, which determines future feedstock demand.
• Brent crude and regional product crack trends, plus the domestic-versus-imported crude cost spread.
• Further Vietnam-US energy agreements signed under the same bilateral framework.