Vietnam is estimated to post a year- on-year rise of 22.4 percent in crude oil export turnover, despite a decrease of 5.8 percent in export volume, in the first seven months of this year.

From January to July, Vietnam was set to export more than 9.6 million tons of crude oil worth over 4.9 billion U.S. dollars, mainly to China, Singapore, Japan, Britain and the United States, according to the country's General Statistics Office Friday.

Under a scheme on export development in the 2006-2010 period drafted by the Vietnamese Trade Ministry, the country will lessen the export of such fossil fuel as crude oil and coal from 2008 to ensure sufficient supplies for oil refineries and energy-thirsty industries like electricity and cement, an official from the ministry's Import-Export Department told Xinhua recently.

Vietnam's crude oil export is likely to drop to 15.6 million tons in 2010 from 16 million tons in 2009, 20 million tons in 2008, 19 million tons in 2007, some 18.7 million tons in 2006, and 18.1 million tons in 2005, the official said.

Vietnam's first refinery with an annual processing capacity of 6.5 million tons of crude oil under construction in central Quang Ngai province is scheduled to operate in late 2008 or early 2009.

Source: Xinhua