Construction of Vietnam's first oil refinery will kick off late next month, according to its constructor, a consortium led by France's Technip Conflexip, on Monday.

The overall cost for the Dung Quat refinery with an annual refining capacity of 6.5 million tons of crude oil in central Quang Ngai province is estimated at 2.5 billion US dollars. Once completed, it will meet some 40 percent of the local demand for petroleum products.

Recently, the National Assembly of Vietnam approved a resolution on speeding up the construction of the refinery so that it will become operational in late 2008 or early 2009.

Vietnam exported nearly 13.3 million tons of crude oil valued at some 5.5 billion US dollars in the first nine months of this year, down 9.3 percent in volume but up 32.7 percent in value against the same period last year.

Meanwhile, it imported over 8.9 million tons of petroleum products worth roughly 3.8 billion US dollars, posting respective rises of 8.2 percent and 47.8 percent.

Source: Xinhua