Petrolimex
Vietnam's leading petroleum-product importer, distributor, and retail-fuel network.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Petrolimex, formally the Vietnam National Petroleum Group, is a Vietnamese energy group centered on the importation, storage, transportation, wholesale, and retail distribution of petroleum products. Its roots date to January 1956, when the Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation was established by a decision of the commerce minister. Over time, the organization developed from a state petroleum distributor into a diversified group with activities and subsidiaries spanning fuel retail, aviation fuel, liquefied petroleum gas, lubricants, petrochemicals, tanker transportation, insurance, engineering, construction, real estate, and banking-related interests. The group's core business is the supply of refined petroleum products to Vietnam. Its portfolio includes gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, lubricants, LPG, and associated technical and commercial services. Petrolimex serves customers through a broad branded service-station network and through wholesale channels supplying industrial, commercial, transport, and institutional users. The company has also supplied petroleum products to Cambodia. Its retail presence has been particularly important in remote and geographically distant areas, where a nationwide distribution infrastructure supports fuel availability beyond Vietnam's major urban centers. Petrolimex operates in a strategic and highly regulated sector. Its position is commonly described in relation to PetroVietnam, the other major Vietnamese energy group. The company has historically accounted for a substantial share of Vietnam's petroleum-product imports and retail market, although exact market-share figures vary by period and source. Besides its own fuel operations, the group has used subsidiaries and affiliated companies to extend the Petrolimex brand into insurance, gas, petrochemicals, shipping, construction, and financial services. This structure gives the brand a presence at fuel stations and across parts of the wider petroleum supply chain. A significant change in Petrolimex's corporate profile began with partial privatization and public-market participation. In July 2011, the company sold a minority stake through an initial public offering. The Vietnamese state remained the dominant shareholder after the offering. Petrolimex subsequently became associated with the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange under the PLX ticker. In May 2016, Japan's Nippon Oil acquired a 9.09% holding, reducing the state's ownership below 75% according to contemporary reporting. These transactions introduced a strategic foreign shareholder while preserving the group's importance as a state-linked national fuel company. Petrolimex has also expanded and adjusted its portfolio through partnerships, restructuring, and subsidiary-level transactions. Its group companies have included Petrolimex Joint Stock Insurance Company, Petrolimex Gas, Petrolimex Petrochemical Corporation, Petrolimex Tanker Corporation, Petrolimex Concrete and Construction, Petrolimex Land Holdings, and Petrolimex Group Commercial Joint Stock Bank. The group has considered or implemented changes involving insurance, real estate, construction, and banking interests, reflecting an effort to focus or reorganize businesses around its broader corporate structure. The brand's history includes both operational expansion and public scrutiny. In December 2015, its Nepal subsidiary delivered its first aviation-fuel shipment. In February 2016, Petrolimex acknowledged that a batch of A95 gasoline contained a significant quantity of toluene impurities after reports linked the fuel to vehicle breakdowns. The episode highlighted the quality-control risks associated with a large nationwide fuel-distribution system. Today, Petrolimex remains an active, state-linked Vietnamese energy group whose public identity is anchored in fuel distribution, service stations, petroleum logistics, and related industrial services.
History
Petrolimex traces its institutional origin to January 1956, when the Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation was established under the authority of Vietnam's commerce ministry. The organization was created to manage petroleum supply in a period when fuel distribution was becoming a strategically important state function. Its subsequent development followed the growth of Vietnam's transport, industrial, agricultural, and commercial sectors, requiring increasingly extensive systems for importing, storing, moving, and selling petroleum products. The group became associated with the Petrolimex name as it developed a national distribution platform. Its principal business remained petroleum products, but the organization also built or acquired capabilities in transportation, storage, engineering, mechanical equipment, installation, and trading. Subsidiaries and affiliated businesses extended the group into insurance, LPG, petrochemicals, tanker operations, construction, land development, and banking. This diversified structure supported the main fuel business while giving the Petrolimex name a presence across related parts of the energy and commercial-services economy. A major institutional transition occurred in July 2011, when Petrolimex sold 2.56% of its shares through an initial public offering. The transaction reportedly raised approximately US$20 million, while the Vietnamese state retained about 94.99% of the capital. The offering marked a step toward a more market-oriented corporate structure without ending Petrolimex's role as a state-linked national fuel company. The company later became publicly traded under the PLX ticker on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. Petrolimex continued to develop international and specialized activities during the 2010s. In December 2015, Petrolimex Nepal delivered its first aviation-fuel shipment, reported at 39,800 litres. The event illustrated the group's attempt to use its petroleum-supply expertise in aviation and in markets outside Vietnam. The group also supplied petroleum-related products to Cambodia and maintained a broad domestic service-station presence. Reference material describes the company as operating 2,352 stations within a national market of approximately 14,000 stations, with particular attention to remote and distant locations. The company faced a product-quality episode in February 2016. Petrolimex acknowledged that a batch of A95 gasoline contained a substantial amount of toluene impurities after reports of multiple vehicle breakdowns. The incident brought attention to the complexity of quality assurance across a large import, storage, and retail network, although the available reference material does not establish a broader finding of intentional misconduct. Petrolimex's ownership structure also changed in 2016. Nippon Oil became a 9.09% shareholder in May, reducing the state's holding below 75% according to the cited account. The strategic investment added an international oil-industry participant while leaving the Vietnamese state as the dominant owner. During the same period, Petrolimex considered or pursued changes to its non-core portfolio, including a possible sale of Petrolimex Joint Stock Insurance Company to a foreign fund, a restructuring of real-estate activities into the construction business, and the merger of PG Bank with Vietinbank. The resulting company is a large Vietnamese petroleum group whose public identity is centered on fuel importation, storage, wholesale distribution, service stations, aviation fuel, lubricants, LPG, and related logistics. Its subsidiary network remains broader than the retail-fuel business alone, but Petrolimex's principal strategic importance lies in maintaining a nationwide petroleum-distribution system and supplying fuel to consumers, businesses, transport operators, and institutional customers.
- 2016
Nippon Oil takes a strategic stake
[1]Nippon Oil became a 9.09% Petrolimex shareholder, reducing state ownership below 75% according to contemporary reporting.
- 2015
First aviation-fuel delivery by Petrolimex Nepal
[1]The group's Nepal subsidiary delivered its first aviation-fuel shipment, reported as 39,800 litres.
- 2011
Initial public offering
[1]Petrolimex sold 2.56% of its shares in a July initial public offering while the Vietnamese state retained overwhelming majority ownership.
- 1956
National petroleum corporation established
[1]The Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation was created in January 1956 by decree of the commerce minister, establishing the institutional predecessor of Petrolimex.
Products and positioning
State-linked national market leader in petroleum-product importation, distribution, logistics, and retail.
Motor fuel
Gasoline
Petrolimex distributes gasoline through its branded service stations and wholesale channels. The product range includes grades used by passenger vehicles and other road users. Gasoline is one of the group's central retail and import-distribution businesses.
Motor and industrial fuel
Diesel
Diesel is supplied to road transport, commercial operators, industrial users, and other customers through Petrolimex's distribution infrastructure. It is a core part of the group's wholesale and retail petroleum portfolio.
Aviation fuel
Aviation fuel
Petrolimex participates in aviation-fuel supply, including through its Petrolimex Nepal subsidiary. Aviation fuel represents a specialized extension of the group's petroleum logistics and distribution capabilities.
Automotive and industrial lubricants
Lubricants
Lubricants are sold through Petrolimex's service-station and subsidiary network alongside motor fuels. They serve automotive, transport, and industrial maintenance needs and broaden the commercial offering at Petrolimex locations.
LPG
Liquefied petroleum gas
Petrolimex's gas activities include LPG distribution. The business complements liquid-fuel operations and uses the group's storage, transportation, retail, and subsidiary capabilities.
Petrochemicals
Petrochemical products
Through its petrochemical subsidiary, Petrolimex participates in trading and distributing products related to the wider petroleum value chain. The available reference material does not specify a complete product catalogue.
Brand decisions
2016
Strategic investment by Nippon OilM&ABackground
Petrolimex's ownership base was being broadened while the Vietnamese state continued to hold a controlling position.
Action taken
Nippon Oil became a 9.09% shareholder in Petrolimex.
Aftermath
The transaction reduced state ownership below 75% according to the referenced account and added a foreign strategic shareholder.
2016
Portfolio restructuring and banking combinationM&ABackground
In the period following the Brexit referendum, Petrolimex reviewed several non-core holdings and corporate relationships.
Action taken
The group planned a possible sale of PJICO to a foreign fund, considered moving real-estate activities into its construction subsidiary, and finalized the merger of PG Bank with Vietinbank.
Aftermath
The measures indicated an effort to reorganize the group's insurance, property, construction, and banking interests, although the available material does not provide a complete account of subsequent outcomes.
2015
Expansion of aviation-fuel activity through Petrolimex NepalProduct launchBackground
The group sought to apply its petroleum distribution capabilities to aviation-fuel supply outside Vietnam.
Action taken
Petrolimex Nepal delivered its first aviation-fuel shipment, reported at 39,800 litres.
Aftermath
The delivery established an operational milestone for the group's Nepal aviation-fuel business.
2011
Partial privatization through an initial public offeringOtherBackground
Petrolimex was transitioning toward a partially market-based ownership structure while remaining predominantly state-controlled.
Action taken
The company sold 2.56% of its shares in an IPO, reportedly raising approximately US$20 million.
Aftermath
The Vietnamese state remained the controlling shareholder, and Petrolimex later traded under the PLX ticker.
IPO proceeds. Approximately US$20 million raised (July 2011)
Recent events
Brightoil unit reaches debt settlement with Petrolimex[3]
Brightoil Petroleum (Holdings) Limited said its Singapore unit reached a settlement with Petrolimex over a $30 million debt. The article attributes the statement to Brightoil and dates it to Tuesday, May 19, 2020.
Weekdays and relative dates follow the original report; their exact calendar dates have not been verified.
Sources3 sources
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