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Gold/Mining/Energy : Lundin Oil (LOILY, LOILB Sweden) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tomas who wrote (2298)	4/17/2001 11:27:24 PM
From: Tomas	Respond to of 2742

Vietnam: Symbolic tonne of crude prompts business hopes Vietnam Investment Review, April 16 BY PHAN NGUYEN VIETNAM'S all-time crude oil exports passed the 100-million tonne benchmark last week. From April 1987 to the end of March this year, Vietnam exported over 2,000 shipments containing 100 million tonnes of crude worth $15 billion-plus, Petechim, PetroVietnam's exporting arm, announced. "This is a significant milestone in the development of Vietnam's petroleum industry, and a key marker of the national economy," Pham Hong Minh, general director of Petechim, said. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai sent congratulations to PetroVietnam and Petechim. "On behalf of the government, I greatly praise and commend the achievements. I expect Petechim will extend the success achieved, consolidate the unity, be dynamic and outstandingly fulfil the task of exporting oil and gas in the coming period and actively contribute to the cause of industrialisation and modernisation of the country," he said. Vietnam's crude is exploited from six different fields, three of which are operated by Vietnam-Russia Vietsovpetro joint venture including Bach Ho (White Tiger), Rong (Dragon) and Dai Hung fields. The three other fields are operated by JVPC of Japan, Petronas of Malaysia and Lundin of Canada, and are called Rang Dong, Ruby and Bunga Kekwa respectively. "The production of the six oil fields is expected to exceed 16 million tonnes of crude oil by the end of this year," Minh from Petechim said. Vietnam currently ranks fourth in oil production amongst Southeast Asian countries. National demand for oil products is 10-12 million tonnes per year. The building of Vietnam's first crude oil refinery in Dung Quat by the VietRoss joint venture would help satisfy this internal demand, experts said. It should build up to a 6.5-million-tonne capacity. Yng Jou Hwang, president of Conoco Vietnam, a large partner of PetroVietnam, said: "The future of Vietnam's oil and gas industry is bright as Vietnam is a country containing significant natural resources." Vietnam had proven and potential reserves of gas sufficient to supply greater Ho Chi Minh City with electricity for more than 550 years, he calculated. The investment climate needed further improvement and normal international business practices needed to be adopted at a faster pace, he added. And, said Hwang, in order to meet the growing demand for energy, Vietnam needed to invest roughly 5.5 per cent of GDP into energy infrastructure. "Power is derived from oil and gas, so foreign investment is needed to fund these essential projects," he said. "In the energy sector, never have so many countries offered opportunities for foreign investment in oil and gas. So, to be competitive, Vietnam must adopt international business practices." Conoco had spent over $200 million investing in Vietnam's upstream oil and gas industry over the last three years, he said, adding that the company planned to spend an additional $500 million on projects over the next four or five years. Nguyen Van Tuyen, deputy general director of Vietsovpetro, said from 1996 to 2000, Vietsovpetro, one of Petechim's biggest crude suppliers, produced 53 million tonnes of crude worth $7.95 billion. It had tabled plans to produce 13.1 million tonnes of crude this year.