Vietnam to Cut down Crude Oil Export from 2009
Vietnam, the sixth largest Asian crude oil producer, will sharply reduce its export volume of crude oil from 2009 with the view to increase its domestic petroleum production, according to the Ministry of Trade (MoT)’s overall project for exports in the 2006-2010 period.
Under the plan, Vietnam will slightly raise its crude export from 18.7 million this year to 19 million tons in 2007 and to 20 million tons in 2008.
However, from 2009 when Vietnam’s first refineries start operations, the nation will cut its export to 16 million tons and 15.6 million in 2010, and the ministry is projecting export price of around US$54 per barrel or US$400 per ton.
At present, crude oil remains the country’s largest cash earner with an export value in the first fourth months of this year of US$2.63 billion, accounting for 21.72 per cent of Vietnam’s total export revenue, the Government’s General Statistics Office (GSO) said.
Vietnam is forecast to exploit 42.49 million barrels of crude oil between January and April of this year, or 354,100 bpd, down 3.4 per cent on year, including 10.74 million barrels in March.
Vietnam Financial Times
Vietnamese
