4:34:26 PM | 4/6/2008
Vietnam is estimated to have produced 6.18 million tons of crude oil in the first five months of this year, down 6.3 per cent on year, said the General Statistics Office (GSO).
In May, the country’s crude oil production reached over 1.25 million tons, down 7 per cent on year, the office said.
The fall in crude oil volume is mainly due to lower production at Bach Ho, the country's biggest oilfield, which now produces about 160,000 barrels a day to 170,000 bpd, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on condition of anonymity.
Between January and May, Vietnam is forecast to have produced over 3.13 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 105,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), down 3.14 per cent on year and 18.7 per cent on year, respectively, the GSO said.
GSO said that Vietnam is the third largest crude oil producer in Asia, exporting 5.7 million tons of crude oil valued at US$4.52 billion in the first five months this year, up 45.5 per cent on-year in value despite a fall of 11.3 per cent in volume, according to the office. (GSO May 2008)
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