Vietnam to operate 6 oil refineries by 2015

Vietnam has planned to put into operation between five and six oil refineries with a combined refining capacity of 30 million tons of crude oil a year by 2015 to meet rising domestic demand for petroleum products, the financial Vietstock website reported. The Southeast Asian country expects to raise total annual refining capacity to between 60 million and 65 million tons of crude oil between 2015 and 2025. The country’s demand for petroleum products is forecast to grow 10%-15% a year, and to hit between 22 million and 25 million metric tons by 2015. Despite being the third-largest producer of crude oil in Southeast Asia, with an average output of 300,000 barrels a day, Vietnam still has to import petroleum due to a lack of oil refineries. In late February, it began operating its first oil refinery in central Quang Ngai province after 44 months of construction and welcomed the plant’s first commercial oil products, marking a special milestone for the country’s oil refining industry. (June 17, 2009)