Vietnam, the sixth largest crude oil producer in Asia, is estimated to pump 10.75 million barrels of crude oil in May, or 346,640 barrels per day (bpd), the same volume it reaped in April, the Governments General Statistics Office (GSO) said.
However, the May output is down 3.68 per cent against last May’s 11.16 million barrels, it said.
Between January and May, the Southeast Asian nation is projected to extract 53 million barrels, 351,400 bpd, down 3.7 per cent on year, it added.
The slight fall in output in the five-month period is principally due to shrinking yields from key oil fields in the country, an official from the Ministry of Industry said anonymously.
According to local media, the falling output is also attributed to the overproduction of offshore oil fields in recent years and the government’s intention to set oil reserves for future oil refineries.
The GSO said Thursday that Vietnam is projected to bring ashore 621 million cubic meters of natural gas in May, down 5.5 per cent on year, totaling 2.91 billion cubic meters in the January-May period, up 0.2 per cent.
The Southeast Asian nation extracted 31,400 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in May, up 3 per cent on year, and 153,500 tons in the entire four month period, up 2.8 per cent year on year.
Vietnam is projected to spend $2.3 billion on importing 4.52 million metric tons of petroleum products in the five-month period, up 22.4 per cent in value but down 10.5 per cent in volume.
Meanwhile, the communist-ruled nation export is predicted to export 49.77 million barrels, or 329,600 bpd between January and May, it said.
To date, Vietnam has no oil refineries. The first refineries are slated for operation in 2009.
GSO
Vietnamese
