~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2002]

Vietnam exports 16.7 million tonnes of crude oil in 2001

Vietnam this year exported 16.7 million tonnes of crude oil, earning 3.05 billion dollars, an official newspaper said. Vietnam's oil and gas industry produced 16.9 million tonnes of crude oil, a 4.8 percent increase over last year and 1.69 billion cubic metres of gas, the daily Nhan Dan (The People) said.

Most of it is exported, as Vietnam lacks refining capacity. It imports all of its refined products. The increase in volume in 2001 has helped Vietnam mitigate the adverse impact of a 10 percent decline in world oil prices, according to the World Bank. Vietnam this year has explored seven new oil fields and discovered nine new oil and gas reserves off the coutry's southern coast. Crude oil is currently Vietnam's most important export product in terms of gross revenue.

Agence France Presse - December 31, 2001.


Norway's Statoil to abandon Vietnam operations

HANOI - Norway's national oil and gas group, Statoil, has finally pulled the plug on its Vietnam operations after a 10-year presence in the country. The company wants to shift its focus to other markets like China where it can become a dominant player, instead of spreading itself thin with operations in too many markets.

Statoil divested its Vietnamese stake to invest in exploration and petrochemical production in China after it recently won a US$2 billion tender to develop an oil block there. Company spokesman Kristofer Hotland reveals that it has sold a 33.3 stake in Block 5.2 of the Nam Con Son oil and gas project to the UK's BP-Amoco and Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp (PetroVietnam). It is now seeking MPI approval to sell a further 13.33 per cent to its partners, PetroVietnam, BP-Amoco, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India and Conoco. It is likely to get it, ministry sources say.

It has also pulled out of the Phu My 3 Power Plant in the southern Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, planned to be built by Statoil and BP on a Build-Operate-Transfer basis. Newspaper reports suggested that Belgium's Tracterbel and Singapore's Sembawang were bidding to replace Statoil and might jointly hold a 51 per cent stake in the venture. Statoil had already sold part of its stake to partners PetroVietnam and BP Amoco in the mega gas pipeline project that it has been pursuing since the early 1990s.

According to a Ministry of Planning and Investment [MPI] source, the company had agreed to negotiate to sell its stakes in Nam Con Son to American Conoco, especially in blocks 6.1, 5.2 and 5.3. The US$504 million mid-stream segment of the gas project is likely to be shared by PetroVietnam (51 per cent) and a BP-Conoco (49 per cent) consortium. But the mega-project will go ahead, finishing in October next year. It will have a lifespan of 35 years and will bring about 18-19 million cubic metres of gas ashore each day.

It is estimated Nam Con Son has a total reserve of 59 billion cubic metres. Its annual profit is estimated to reach US$200 million each year, with the state to receive 25 per cent and 15 per cent of PetroVietnam's profit.

Vietnam News Agency - December 31, 2001.


Vietnam exports 17 millions tonnes of crude oil in 2001

HANOI - Viet Nam earned USD 3.17 billion from exports of 17 million tonnes of crude oil in 2001, sources from the General Statistics Office. These figures showed a 10.2 percent rise in volume and a 9.3 percent drop in earnings. The Viet Nam-Russia joint venture enterprise (Vietsovpetro) contributed more than 80 percent to the total export volume. The oil and gas industry tapped 16.9 million tonnes of crude oil, 800,000 tonnes more than in 2000, according to the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam).

It also brought ashore 1.69 billion cubic metres of gas to supply the Phu My and Ba Ria power plants, and the Dinh Co liquefied gas plant, all in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The industry put seven more oil wells into exploitation, conducted drills in nine others, and fulfilled installation of a gas pineline capable of bringing ashore 800,000 cubic metres of gas a day from the Rang Dong (Drawn) oil field.

Vietnam news Agency - December 31, 2001.