PETROLEUM SUPPLY OF NORTH VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78S02149R000200220013-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 17
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 27, 2004
• Sequence Number: 13
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved
Project No. 25.x+800
Petroleum Supply of North Vietnam
Contribution by T~TR
Action Division D~R
Action Branch R~FP
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I. Present Method of Transporting Petroleum. to and Within Noi?th Vietnam
North Vietnam has no indigenous supply of petroleum and no refining capacity and
is entirely dependent on imports for the supply of petroleum products. (POL). During
1865 North Vietnam imported about 180,000 short tons' of POL, an increase of about
13 percent compared with imports in 1q6~+. Motor gasoline and diesel fuel accounted
for more than 62 percent of the total imports. An estimate of POL imports by type
of product is shown in the following table.
Table 1
Imports of POL to North Vietnam in 1865
Type of Product
(thousand short tons)
Percent
Motor gasoline
66.1
35.1
Diesel fuel
51.8
27.x+
Kerosene
52.q
28.0
Lubricants
15.x-
8.1
Jet fuel
l.q
1.0
Aviation gasoline
0.8
0.~-
188.8
loo.o
About q7 percent of the POL was supplied by the USSR while Rumania and
Communist China supplied the remainder. There were no known imports of POL from
non-Communist suppliers during 1865. Ocean tankers delivered more than 165,000 tons
and dry cargo ships delivered about 12,000 tons during 1865. This amount, delivered
through the port of Haiphong, represents- almost q5 percent of the total imports in
~ Unless otherwise stated, tonnages are given in short tons throughout-this report.
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1965. The remainder or about 12,000 tons was delivered overland from China or
from the USSR through China. During the first five months of 1866 imports increased
by at least 50 percent above the corresponding period in 1965., If this rate is
maintained throughout the year, imports in 1866 will amount to about 300,000 tons.
A substantial increase in the number of motor vehicles in North Vietnam during late
1965 and early 1966 probabl~ accounts in part for an increased. demand for POL,
particularly motor gasoline and diesel fuel. However, there is also considerable
evidence that a program was underway during the first five months of 1966 to build
up a reserve supply of POL and these reserves were being dispersed throughout the
country in steel drums and small storage tanks some of which have been buried under-
ground. It is estimated that the capacity of fixed storage facilities in-use as of
1 June 1966 was about 180,000 tons and dispersed storage facilities may account for
another 8,000 tons. The major bulk storage facilities are at ~[aiphong. 79,000 tons
and at Hanoi, 37,000 tons. These two installations account for' nearly 60 percent of
the total bulk storage capacity. Moreover, almost all of the remainder of the fixed
bulk storage facilities are located within a radius of about 75 miles of Hanoi.
The location and capacities of the principal bulk storage facilities are shown in
Table 2.
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North Vietnam
Principal Bulk Petroleum Storage Facilitie~~
Location Ca~acit
Sort 'i'ons
Haiphong 79,000
Hanoi 37,000
Vinh 2, 000
Nguyen Khe l~l~, 000
Phuc Yen 15, 000
Bac Giang 7, 000
Do Son ~+, 000
Viet Tri ~+, 000
Phu Qui 2,000
Duong Nham 15,000
Kep
1, 000
180, o00
Served b
Mode of Transport
rail, road, water
rail, road
rail, road, water
rail, road
rail, road
rail, road, water
road, water
rail, :road, water
road
road, water
road
Considering the fact that the fixed bulk storage capacity :Ls just about equal
to total imports of POL in 1865 it would appear that storage capacity is far in
excess of requirements to maintain an even flow'of supplies to consumers. The
storage facilities at Haiphong are not only the largest but are' also the most im-
portant because they are the only facilities capable of receiving liquid POL direct
from ocean tankers. .The ocean tankers can discharge cargoes directly to those
facilities through pipelines on the jetties although some POL is aff loaded to
lighters, tank barges and other water craft for delivery elsewhere. Moreover,
these facilities are equipped to load railroad tank cars, tank trucks, coastal
vessels and inland water craft and they also have packaging facilities to fill drums
and other small containers. Almost all of the liquid POL imported to North Vietnam
passes through the Haiphong storage facilities. Delivery to other bulk storage
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facilities is accomplished by rail, road, inland water and coastal vessels, but
the bulk of the POL probably is shipped from Haiphong by rail too-those storage
facilities served by rail. Hanoi which is second in terms of capacity is also
second in importance. It is centrally located and readily acce:ssable to the prin-
cipal consumers. The facilities at Hanoi also are equipped to trans-load to all
modes of transport and to package petroleum products. Deliveries to the ultimate
consumers from all bulk storage facilities is accomplished principally by truck.
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II. Consumption and use of POL
A. Civilian Consumption of Motor Gasoline and Diesel Fuel
One of the principal consumers of POL is the public transportation industry
in North Vietnam. It is estimated that public road transport alone carried about
8.7 million tons of freight for 137 million ton miles in 1965.~~ This operation
would have required the use of 6,700 trucks and would have consumed about x+7,000
tons of motor gasoline and diesel fuel. Another major consumer of motor gasoline
and diesel fuel is the inland water and coastal shipping transport enterprises. It
is estimated that these enterprises carried about 8.9 million tons for x+86 million
ton miles in 1965 and at least 75 percent of the traffic or 3E~5 million ton miles
was carried on or towed by powered vessels using motor gasoline or diesel engines.
At the rate of 80 pounds of fuel per 1,000 ton miles, this traffic would have con-
The third major
sumed about 15,000 tons of motor gasoline and diesel fuel in :1965.
consumer among the transportation enterprises is the port operations. The barges,
dredges, lighters and tugs in use at the ports probably consumed about 11,000 tons
of fuel in 1965. Passenger cars, buses and taxis consumed about 3,500 tons and
public administration vehicles such as ambulances, fire and police vehicles about
500 tons. Thus, civilian transportation consumed an estimated 77,000 tons of motor
gasoline and diesel fuel in 1965 or more than 65 percent of the imports of those
products in 1965.
B. Militar Consum tion of Motor Gasoline and Diesel Fuel
It is estimated that there are more than 6,000 motor vehicles assigned to
the Armed Forces in North Vietnam. Of this total about 80 percent or 5,000 vehicles
~ CIA estimate: Includes military cargo carried on civilie~n trucks but excludes
cargo carried on trucks operated by the Armed Forces.
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are in regular daily use and the remaining 20% are out of service for maintenance ,
and repair. Some of the military vehicles such as those operating in the Laotian
corridor and in Military Region IV are used intensively while those on garrison
are not. Th is estimated that the 5,000 military vehicles in use by the armed
forces consumed about 27,000 tons of motor gasoline and diesel fuel in 1865 or
almost 23 percent of the imports. In total, civilian public transportation and
the motor vehicles used by the armed forces consumed about 10+,000 tons of fuel
in 1865 or 88 percent of the motor gasoline and diesel fuel imported in 1965.
Table 3 shows the consumption of motor gasoline and diesel fuel by public trans-
portation and armed forces motor vehicles in 1965.E
~- See Table 3 following page
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North Vietnam
Estimated Consumption of Motor Gasoline and Diesel Fuel
'oy Civilian and Military Transportation in 19 5~
Consumer
Consumption
Percent by Percent of Imports
Trans
ort Consu
r T
t
l I
t
p
me
o
a
mpor
s Consumed by Transport
Short Tons
Short Tons
-~
1. Civilian Transport `' ~
`~ -~-'"'
--
a. Trucks (cargo} 47,000
45.1
39.9
b. Passenger cars, buses, tads 3,504
3.4
3.0
c. Public administration health, fire, police 584
.5
,5
d. Inland water and coastal shipping 15,000
14.4
12,7
e. Port operations barges, dredges, lighters,
tugs .~ 11, o00
10.6
9.3
Total Civilian 77,084
74.0
65.4
2. Military Transport
a. Trucks, ~Iaotian corridor} 5,256
5.0
4.5
b. Trucks (Military Region N ~ 9,454
g.l
8.0
c. Trucks, ~a11 other 4,g06
4.7
4.2
d. Prime movers 5,5~
5.3
4.7
e. Ambulances, jeeps, sedans 1,632
1.6
1.4
f. Armored vehicles 285
.3
22.8
Total Military 27,039
26.0
104,123 loo 117, 900 88.2 25X1
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III. Cost of Transporting POL Imports
A. B~ Sea
During 1865 about 177,000 tons of POL were transported b;y sea from Black
Sea ports to North Vietnam through the port of Haiphong. This amount represented
about 9~+- percent of the total imports in 1965. It involved a haul of about 8,000
nautical miles requiring a voyage of about 29 days. It is estimated that the cur-
rent ocean freight rate on POL by tankers From Black Sea Ports to Haiphong is
approximately
7..50 per metric ton.
B. ~ Rail
During 1965 about 12,000 tons of POL were transported b`,r railroad from the
USSR to North Vietnam. The railroad freight rate would vary df~pending upon the
point of origin in the USSR. It is logical to conclude however that the Soviets
would have shipped by rail from a refinery reasonably close to a border point on
the most direct route to North Vietnam through Mongolia and China. It is there-
fore believed that the major portion of the tonnage originated. at Irkutsk where
there is a refinery capable of producing all types of petroleum products. The
railroad freight rate from Irkutsk via Naushki on the Mongolian border to Erhlien
on the Chinese border and thence to Dong Dang on the Chinese-North Vietnamese
border, a distance of 5,x+75 kilometers is $x+8.80 per metric ton. This rate in-
cludes a 1.00 per ton charge for transloading from Soviet wide gauge to Chinese
standard gauge cars on the Mongolian Chinese border. This is 6.5 times the rate
by sea from Black Sea ports to Haiphong.
~ Combination of local freight rate in the USSR and transit rate through Mongolia
and China. The rate is published in old rubles (before the 1961 currency reform)
and converted at the rate of exchange of ~- rubles to US ~1.
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IV. The Effects of Interdiction of POL Supply System at the Part of Haiphong
In the event that the use of the port of Haiphong is deniE:d either by the min-
ing of the harbor and approaches or by the destruction of POL storage and unloading
facilities or both, there are two alternate transportation routes open for the sup-
ply of POL. One is the overland railroad route from the USSR through Mongolia and
China. The other is a combination of a route by sea to a Chinese port and thence
overland by railroad and highway and by coastal waterway to North Vietnam.
The railroad route from Irkutsk in the USSR by the most direct route would in-
volve a haul of about 5,x+75 kilometers (3,390 miles) at a cost of ~~-8.80 per metric
ton. It would require the continual employment of 132 freight cars for each
100,000 tons carried in the USSR and about 280 freight cars for each 100,000 tons
in China.' Thus, the number of cars required to deliver the 300,000 tons of im-
ports anticipated in 1866 would be x+00 in the USSR and Mongolia and 8~+0 in China.
This would not overly tax the USSR railroad system as there a,re about 130,000 tank
cars in the USSR. The number of tank cars in China is estimated at about 16,000
and there have been reports from time to time of a shortage. It is believed
therefore that China would be unable to allocate 8~-0 tank caY's or about five per-
cent of the tank car inventory for the haul without seriously disrupting domestic
traffic in POL. The jet fuel, aviation gasoline and some lubricants may move over-
land by rail but the motor gasoline, diesel fuel and kerosene which. comprises more
than 90 percent of the imports probably would move by sea to a Chinese port and
thence overland and by coastal waterway to North Vietnam.
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The Chinese ocean port closest to the border of North Vietnam and the port most
likely to be used is at Fort Bayard (Chan-Chiang). The shipping distance from Black
Sea ports to Fort Bayard is just about equal to the distance to Haiphong and the
ocean freight rate of
7.50 per ton is therefore also applicable. The port at Fort
~~~~
Bayard has a POL storage capacity of 300,000 ~. or about 37,800 short tons. A
standard gauge railroad line runs from the port via Li-tang to Ping-hsiang on the
North Vietnam border, a distance of 655 kilometers (x+07 miles). The capacity of
the railroad is about 5,600 tons per day or about seven times the capacity required
to move the daily requirement of 822 tons of POL for North Vietnam. The number
of freight cars required in constant use to move the POL tonnage would be about
170 or about 1.1 percent of the Chinese inventory. The freight rate by railroad
from Fort Bayard to Ping-hsiang would amount to about
with the ocean rate of
8.15 per ton and coupled
7.50 per ton, total rate would amount to
15.65. This is
less than one-third of the overland railroad rate from Irkuts:~ in the USSR.. There
is a POL storage depot at Ping-hsiang with a storage capacity of abaut 2,000 tons
which has pumping facilities to transload POL from Chinese standard gauge railroad
cars to North Vietnamese meter gauge railroad cars or tank trucks. It probably has
facilities for packaging POL in steel drums far shipment by Either rail or truck.
In addition to the railroad there is a truck route from Fort Bayard to Ping-hsiang
with. a daily capacity of more than 900 tons. A second truck route runs from Fort
Bayard to Mon Cai on the North Vietnamese border, a distance of -about 235 miles
and that route has a daily capacity of 1,x+75 tons. In addition to the rail and
road routes, coastal water craft could be employed from Fort Bayard to various small
ports in South Vietnam.
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~' At an est'mated 00,000 tons per year in 1966.
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Although there is no existing pipeline leading from Fort F>ayard to North Viet-
nam, the possibility of constructing one cannot be ignored. A. four inch pipeline
is capable of delivering about 900 short tons in a 20 hour day which is well above
anticipated daily imports to North Vietnam in 1966. Standard black or galvanized
pipe weighs- about 11 pounds per linear foot which includes the weight of couplings.
This equates to about 26 tons per mile. The distance from Fort Bayard to P'ing-
hsiang following the most direct road route is about x-00 miles so about 10,E-00
tons of pipe would be required. For ease of construction and. maintenance thy:-
pipeline could be laid along the most direct road route thus taking advantages of
existing bridges. Moreover considering the relatively mild climatic conditions
in the area the pipeline could be laid above ground using small timber pollow blocks
for support. Very little skilled labor would be required except for the installation
of pumping stations. Because of its light weight, (a 30 foot section of pipe weighs
only 330 pounds), very little heavy construction equipment would be required. A
50 man crew probably could join and lay at least a half a mile of pipe per day and
ten such crews working simultaneously on different sections could complete the en-
t ire project in under 90 days. Whether or not the pipeline would be laid and the
speed of construction would depend upon the magnitude of the problem encountered
in using other modes of transport. The cost of transporting petroleum products
by pipeline is only about one-fourth of the cost by rail per ton mile. The diversion
of POL traffic from Haiphong to Fort Bayard and thence overland to the Chinese-
North Vietnamese border would not create any serious distribution problems within
Annual production of pipes and tubes in China is about 1.1 million tons.
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North Vietnam. Railroad tank cars and trucks normally used for the haul from
Haiphong to inland storage and distribution facilities would ~>imply be diverted to
the rail and road routes leading from the Chinese border to those facilities. The
rail and road routes from the Chinese border are completely adequate for the distri-
bution of the POL tonnage anticipated in 1966 unless, of course, an intensive effort
to interdict those routes is undertaken in conjumction with the denial of the use
of the port of Haiphong. It is unlikely that even a major interdiction of the
rail and road routes will stem the flow of a substantial amoun~~ of POL from China.
It will, however, make the impart and distribution of POL more difficult and costly.
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APPENDIX A
METHODOZOGY
Methodologies for Estimating Consumption of Motor Gasoline and
Diesel Fuel b Civilian and Militar Transportation in 19 5
1. Fuel Consumed b Civilian Truck Transportation
a. It is estimated that transport performance by civilian trucks totalled
about 200 million metric ton-kilometers in 1865, or 137 million short ton-
miles.
b. The average load per truck is estimated to have weighE:d z.5 short tons.
Tt;is assumed that each truck travelled one mile empty for each mile under
load.
c. The average rate of fuel consumption by trucks is estimated to be 7 miles
per gallon of fuel.
d. Fuel consumed by civilian truck transportation, therefore, is estimated in
the following manner:
137,000,000 short ton-miles of transport performance by trucks)
2.5 (average load per truck in short tons) = 54,800,000 (miles
travelled by loaded trucks) x 2 (factor to account f'or empty
mileage) = lOg,600,000 (total miles travelled by civilian trucks
engaged in transportation) 7 (number of miles per gallon of fuel)
= 15,700,000 (gallons of fuel consumed) x 6 (average. weight in
pounds per gallon of fuel) = g4, 200, 000 (pounds of fuel consumed
in 1g65)
e. Converting to short tons, it is estimated that about 47,000 short tons
of fuel were consumed by civilian truck transportation :in North Vietnam
in 1g65.
2. Fuel Consumed by Civilian Inland and Coastal Water Transportation
a. It is estimated that civilian transport performance by inland and coastal
water totalled about 710 million metric ton-kilometers in 1865, or 486
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b. About three-fourths of this performance is estimated -to have been per-
formed by motorized water craft.
c. In the USSR, about 25 kilograms of diesel fuel is consumed for each 1,000
metric ton-kilometers of transport performance by inland water. Converting
these data to pounds and short ton-miles, it is estimated that 55 pounds of
diesel fuel are consumed for each 685 short ton-miles of performance, or
.08 pound of fuel is consumed for one short ton-mile of performance. This
estimate is believed to be valid for inland and coastal water performance
in North Vietnam.
d. Fuel consumed by civilian inland and coastal water transportation, there-
fore, is estimated in the following manner:
x+86,000,000 (short ton-miles of total transport performance by
inland and coastal water) x .75 (percent of total performance by
motorized water craft) = 36x+,500,000 (short ton-miles of performance
by motorized water craft) x .08 (amount of fuel consumed in pounds
for one short ton-mile of performance) = 29,200,000 (pounds.of fuel
consumed in 1965)
e. Converting to short tons, it is estimated that about 15,000 short tons of
fuel were consumed by civilian inland and coastal water transportation in
1Vorth Vietnam in 1965.
3. Fuel Consumed by Gasoline and Diesel Powered Water Craft in Port Operations
a. It is estimated that the average number of gasoline anti diesel powered
watercraft in constant daily service at the ports did not exceed 100 in
1965. This includes dredges, barges, junks, lighters and tugs but excludes
water craft engaged in inland water and coastal shipping which are accounted
for in paragraph 2 above.
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b. It is also estimated that each port craft was in operation on an average
of 10 hours per day.
c. Each craft consumed 10 gallons of fuel per hour.
d. Fuel consumed by water craft in port operations therefore is estimated
in the following manner:
100 craft x 10 hours per day x 10 gallons of fuel per hour x 6
pounds per gallon = 60,000 pounds = 30 tons of fuel per day x 365
= 10,950 (11,000) tons of fuel consumed per year.
~+. The methodology for computing fuel consumption by civilian truck transporta-
tion and other civilian and military consumers of motor gc~.soline and diesel
fuel is shown in Methodology Table 1 following this page.
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