A customer buys petrol at a station in Ha Noi. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hung

HCM CITY (VNS) — The Ministry of Industry and Trade has granted licences to four more companies to import and export petrol products, increasing the total number of petrol importers to 17.

"More companies involved in import and export of petrol products is a good sign because we are setting up a healthy and competitive petrol market," Vo Van Quyen, director of the trade ministry's Domestic Market Department, was quoted as saying by Dau Tu newspaper.

"To have such a market, we need more companies to take part in the market," Quyen said, adding that this would prevent company monopoly.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also set up an inter-ministerial inspection team to check companies eligible for petrol- and oil-trading licences. The aim is to ensure that they follow the regulations on petrol and oil trading set out in Decree 84/2009/ND-CP.

The licences, which were handed out from May 9 to 20, were given to Phuong Dong Petroleum Joint Stock Company, the Petroleum and Maritime Service Company, the Song Hau Petroleum Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company and the Thai Son Petroleum Joint Stock Company.

Dang Vinh Sang, general director of the Sai Gon Petroleum Company, said it was necessary to closely control the licensed companies.

Small companies, he said, would import petrol as global petrol prices fall, but they would stop importing when the price goes up.

As a result, the scarcity of petrol and oil products could cause chaos on the domestic market, Sang said.

The interval between price adjustments should be 10 days each time instead of the current regulation of 30 days, he added. — VNS