Vietnam Imports More Petroleum Products in First Half

Vietnam imports more petroleum products in first half

HANOI, July 1 (Xinhua) — Vietnam imported more than 5.9 million tons of petroleum products worth over 2.3 billion US dollars in the first half of this year, posting year-on-year increases of 2.3 percent and 36.2 percent, respectively.

In June alone, the country imported 1 million tons of the products valued at 421 million dollars, according to the country’ s General Statistics Office on Friday.

To reduce reliance on petroleum imports, Vietnam, a big crude oil exporter in Asia, is investing some 2.5 billion dollars to build its first oil refinery with annual processing capacity of 6. 5 million tons in central Quang Ngai province, which is scheduled to become operational in late 2008 or early 2009, meeting about 40 percent of the local demand for petroleum products.

Vietnam imported nearly 10.9 million tons of petroleum products worth nearly 3.6 billion dollars last year, up 9.2 percent in volume and 46.8 percent in value over the previous year.