PetroVietnam seeks lower output

Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) has submitted a proposal to the Government to lower its annual crude oil exploitation output target from 16.2 million tonnes to 15.5-16 million tonnes.

PetroVietnam said it is requesting the target adjustment due to difficulties
in exploitation, especially for overseas oil fields.

PetroVietnam affirmed that the change is not related to the decreasing trend
of world crude oil prices over the past month, which has been attributed to
restricted demand caused by the global financial crisis. According to the
General Statistics Office (GSO), crude oil in the world market decreased 20
percent in October.

The GSO reported that, despite falling prices, crude oil remained the
country's biggest export earner in the first ten months of the year, with
11.2 million tonnes exported and nearly 9.5 billion USD generated,
accounting for 17.6 percent of the country's total export turnover.

Meanwhile, economists recommended that PetroVietnam reconsider its
exploitation output and export volume since world oil prices a sharply
falling and the nation's natural resources are restricted.

Despite the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)'s decision
to cut exploitation output late week, oil prices in the world market have
continued to decline.-Enditem