UPDATE 1-Vietnam to abolish import tax on crude oil from November

(Adds detail, background)

By Khanh Vu

HANOI, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Vietnam will abolish an import tax on crude oil from November, the government said on Tuesday, as the Southeast Asian country becomes more reliant on imported crude for its refineries.

The country has required more imported crude to offset slowing domestic output as its reserves decline at existing fields and because of China’s increasingly assertive stance in the region hampers offshore exploration.

The 5% import tax will be abolished from Nov. 1, the Vietnam government said on its website.

Vietnam has two operational oil refineries with combined processing capacity of 330,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical bought 1 million barrels of Bonny Light crude in its first import of Nigerian crude last month

Vietnam's crude oil imports for the January-August period more than doubled from a year earlier to 5.57 million tonnes as domestic oil output fell by 6.9%, official data shows. (Reporting by Khanh Vu Editing by David Goodman)