Vietnam 2008 crude output seen down 6.6 pct on year
Vietnam’s crude oil output this year will fall 6.6% from 2007 to an average of 298,200 barrels per day (bpd), the government’s statistics office estimated on Wednesday.
But December crude production is estimated to rise 11.2% from a year earlier to 1.4 million tonnes, or 331,000 bpd, thanks to a series of new oil fields, the office said in a report.
Dinh La Thang, chairman of state oil monopoly Petrovietnam, said in an annual report on Wednesday the oil group started commercial operation of five new oil fields, including Song Doc, Ca Ngu Vang and Su Tu Vang.
Viet Nam, which is now forced to export all its crude oil production because it lacks refineries, estimated crude oil sales revenues to jump 23.1% in 2008 to $10.45 billion, thanks to high oil prices earlier in the year.
Crude oil is Vietnam’s largest source of foreign exchange from an export.
The country’s first refinery, the 140,000-bpd Dung Quat plant, is scheduled to come onstream from Feb. 25 next year. (Reuters)
