PetroVietnam to supply crude to Dung Quat refinery

State-run PetroVietnam said it will provide 80,000 tons of crude oil for Vietnam’s first oil refinery Dung Quat, to produce 66,000 tons of oil products in the second quarter of 2009. In order to meet this amount, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has slashed crude oil exports by 3.5 to four million tons in 2009 and between five and six million tons in 2010. PetroVietnam will prioritize to sell a maximum 49% stake in the refinery to strategic partners. The plant has produced 2,000 tons of diesel fuel and 1,200 tons of kerosene since becoming operational on February 22. On May 6, it pumped out reformate, a component of high-octane gasoline, as part of preparations for debuting its first commercial gasoline flow in early June. Once running at full capacity, the refinery is estimated to offer 150,000 tons of gasoline, 240,000 tons of diesel fuel, 23,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), more than 8,000 tons of propylene, 30,000 tons of Jet-A1 fuel and 25,000 tons of fuel oil per month. (May 7, 2009)