Crude oil exports drop 47 percent in Q1

Vietnam’s crude oil export turnover decreased by 47 percent year-on-year to 1.45 billion USD in the first quarter of this year, said the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).

The reduction was attributed to low world price in the period, which stood at only 45 USD per barrel compared with 100 USD during the same period last year.

The decreasing demand for crude oil for petrochemical refineries in the world was another reason for the country’s declining export turnover despite its three-month output of 4.36 million tonnes.

PetroVietnam said that its revenues dropped 20 percent over the corresponding period last year due to falling crude oil prices. The group contributed 18.6 billion VND to the State budget, down 26 percent year on year and 33 percent against the fourth quarter of 2008.

To ensure its 2009 financial targets, PetroVietnam said it will implement measures to speed up production, services and processing, in a bid to ease financial difficulties due to decreasing prices.

In addition, the group will focus on improving management work and boosting thrift practice in order to reduce production costs.

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