Sharp drop seen in crude oil exploitation

Hanoi (VNA) – A year-on-year drop of 9.6 percent was seen in crude oil exploitation in November this year to 1 million tonnes, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The ministry reported that in the first 11 months of this year, crude oil output reached 12.1 million tonnes, down 5.8 percent over the same period in 2018.

Meanwhile, natural gas exploitation in November also fell 10.3 percent year on year to 0.8 billion cu.m. The output in the January-November period was 9.4 billion cu.m, a rise of 1.2 percent compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, production of liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) in November was 72,500tonnes, pushing the total in the first 11 months of 2019 to 885,300tonnes, up 7.4 percent year on year.

A report from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that in the first 11 months of this year, Vietnam shipped more than 3.72 million tonnes of crude oil worth over 1.87 billion USD overseas, up 3.3 percent in volume but down 8.4 percent in value year-on-year.

In November alone, the country raked in 154 million USD from exporting 330,000 tonnes of crude oil, a drop of 33.2 percent in volume and 30.9 percent in value from the previous month.

Meanwhile, Vietnam imported 7.44 million tonnes of crude oil worth 3.5 billion USD in the period, recording surges of 66.3 percent in volume and 44.1 percent in value year on year.

In the first 11 months, Vietnam imported about 9 million tonnes of petrol and oil at an estimated cost of 5.5 billion USD, down 16.1 percent in volume and 24.4 percent in value against the same period in 2018./.

VNA