Vietnam's petrol firms continue to lose despite oil price hike

Petroleum businesses in Vietnam has forecasted to lose 100 billion dong (US$6.01 million) a day despite a sharp increase in petrol prices, said Bui Ngoc Bao, general director of the Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex). Bao attributed the increase of 31.05% in gasoline price, and 43.9%, 36.8% and 14.7% in kerosene, mazut and diesel, respectively, to prolonged delays in price adjustment. “If petrol price in Vietnam fluctuates daily as foreign exchange rates, people will see the recent surge in petrol price is not too high,” the official elaborated. Vietnam will adjust petroleum prices in accordance with market mechanisms and global oil price fluctuations in the future, Bao said. Prior to the adjustment in petrol prices, the Vietnamese government had subsidized 11 trillion dong (US$661.6 million) for domestic petroleum importers as global oil prices soared in the first six months of the year. (July 25, 2008)