Vietnam to import crude for Dung Quat refinery in 2010

PetroVietnam will import up to 1.5 million tons of crude oil for the country's first refinery, Dung Quat, in 2010, a local newspaper quoted the state oil monopoly as saying.

The imports would meet about 23 percent of the 6.5 million tons of crude oil needed for the 140,000-bpd Dung Quat plant, the Dau Tu newspaper quoted PetroVietnam as saying.

The refinery, which has been doing test runs since February, has been shut down since last month due to a technical problem, and PetroVietnam said on Wednesday it would be fixed by the end of the month.

The news report on Wednesday said the group would import the crude oil from foreign oil companies but did not mention names of potential suppliers.

Dung Quat currently uses only Vietnam's flagship light sweet Bach Ho crude, whose output is about 120,000 bpd and declining quickly, PetroVietnam officials have said.

PetroVietnam has approached a number of foreign companies, including British oil major BP, and a number of international oil trading firms to supply to Dung Quat.

thanhnien, Reuters

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