PetroVietnam proposes hike in refinery capacity

State-owned Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) has proposed that the government increase the Dung Quat refinerys annual processing capacity to 10 million tons of crude oil from the current 6.5 million tons, according to local newspaper. Capitalized at US$2.5 billion, the refinery which is located in central Quang Ngai province is scheduled to become operational next February. PetroVietnam said its current capacity is relatively small compared with that of other oil refineries in the world. Vietnam exported 6.7 million tons of crude oil worth US$5.6 billion in the first half of this year, down 12.1% in volume but up 49% in value, according to the country’s General Statistics Office. (July 4, 2008)