Industry: Petrolimex’s Petrol Sales Down 6% On-year to 3M Tons in H1

The state-owned Vietnam National Petroleum Corp. (Petrolimex) sold 3 million metric tons of petroleum products to the domestic market in the first six months this year, down 6% on-year, the Chairman of the Board of Directors Vu Ngoc Hai said. Hai said Petrolimex imports petrol every quarter and then sells the imported products in the following quarter, adding that petrol sales in the first quarter were from materials imported in the fourth quarter last year when the global petrol price was at only $40 to $42 per barrel. Thanks to the trading mechanism, Petrolimex made net profit of 200 billion dong (US$11.83 million) from petrol sales in the first six months this year, Hai stated. The corporation has to date refunded 1 trillion dong (US$56.16 million) of the government’s advancement from 2008, including 600 billion dong (US$33.69 million) paid in the first half this year, he noted. Petrolimex will have to refund the rest of the 800 billion dong (US$44.93 million) government advancement by October this year. Despite the huge profit, the corporation as well as other petrol trading companies in Vietnam is slow to cut the domestic retail prices despite the falling price of petrol in the world market to $60 to $64 per barrel. (July 15, 2009)