Hanoi - Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group posted total revenues of nearly 69.4 trillion dong (more than 4.3 billion dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 71 per cent year on year, a company official said Friday. The daily Vietnam Economic Times reported that the company's revenues represented 20 per cent of Vietnam's entire GNP for the quarter.
The state-owned conglomerate, known as PetroVietnam, extracted 3.77 million tons of crude oil and 1.87 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the first quarter of 2008, according to senior group executive Dinh Van Son.
PetroVietnam exported 3.67 million tons of crude oil in the period for earnings of 2.75 billion dollars, representing 21 per cent of Vietnam's total export revenues.
Vietnam exports all of its crude oil output and has to import all petroleum products for domestic consumption. Imports of gasoline and other refined petroleum products cost 2.81 billion dollars for the quarter, adding slightly to the country's trade deficit.
The country's reliance on imported petroleum products is expected to ease when its first oil refinery becomes operational in 2009. Dung Quat Oil Refinery will be capable of refining more than six million tons of crude oil a year.
Last month, the prime minister instructed state-owned companies to freeze the prices of 10 important commodities, including petroleum products, in a bid to contain high inflation that reached 9.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year.
A PetroVietnam official said the price-freeze would not hurt the company's revenue growth, as rising world crude oil prices will compensate for the rise in the import prices of refined petroleum products.
PetroVietnam exported 15.72 million tons of crude oil, bringing in 8.8 billion dollars, in 2007.
