Vietnam Refined Oil Imports Down 43.8% to US$6.16B in 2009
Vietnam is estimated to have spent US$6.16 billion on importing 12.512 million metric tons of petroleum products in 2009, down 43.8% and down 3.5% from a year earlier, respectively, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said.
The Southeast Asian country is estimated to have imported 730,000 tons of the products worth US$444 million in December, up 2.38% and up 7.77% on-month, respectively, the office said.
The country is also estimated to have spent US$422 million on importing 753,000 tons liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and bought US$532 million worth of oil products between Jan and Dec, down 24.9% and 1.8% from a year earlier, the GSO said.
The drop in imports of petroleum products this year is attributed to the fact that Vietnam’s first oil refinery Dung Quat has produced over 1.36 million tons of products since its first operation on Feb. 22.
The state-owned Vietnam National Petroleum Corp (Petrolimex) has signed contracts to buy two million tons of diesel oil from four foreign sellers to meet the country’s increasing fuel demand next year. (GSO)
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