HANOI- Vietnam is seeking to build its third oil refinery to meet domestic consumption demand as the country is facing a supply shortage and soaring energy prices, the deputy prime minister told a parliament meeting on Wednesday.

The plant, which is set to be located in the southern province of Vung Tau, has a design capacity of 10 million cubic metres (3.5 million tonnes) per annum, deputy prime minister Le Van Thanh said.

Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam is drafting investment procedures which it aims to complete by this October, he said.

Two refinery plants in Vietnam were put into operation in 2009 and 2018, according to the government, but both only meet around 70% of domestic demand.

With this new plant, Thanh said Vietnam's total capacity would reach 23 million cubic metre, which was expected to be enough for domestic use.

He also noted that current crude oil exploration only met 50% of the raw materials for domestic petroleum production.

The Southeast Asian country is facing a shortfall of petrol and had to tap into its fuel reserves as its largest refinery cut production in January due to a disagreement between shareholders over financing for crude oil procurement.

Vietnam imported 1.35 cubic metres of petroleum products in the first two months, a significant jump from an average monthly amount of 500,000 cubic metres, official data showed.

(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen)