State-owned Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), investor of Vietnam's first oil refinery, has proposed the government increase its annual processing capacity to 10 million tons of crude oil from the current 6.5 million tons, according to local newspaper Industry and Trade on Friday.

Capitalized at US$2.5 billion, the Dung Quat refinery--under construction in central Quang Ngai province--is scheduled to become operational next February. PetroVietnam said its current capacity is relatively small compared to that of other oil refineries in the world.

Vietnam exported 6.7 million tons of crude oil worth US$5.6 billion in the first half of this year, down 12.1 percent in volume but up 49 percent in value, according to the country's General Statistics Office.

Meanwhile, the country spends US$6.8 billion importing 5.9 million tons of petroleum products, posting respective year-on-year rises of 68.9 percent and 4.4 percent.


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