31 December 2014, News Wires – State-run PetroVietnam has forecast revenue to slip nearly a third next year as it revealed plans to cut output amid volatile oil prices.
The company revealed it planned to cut output by roughly 3%, to 16.8 million tonnes.
PetroVietnam produced 17.37 million tonnes of oil this year, which was 7.2% above its target for the year.
Gas output also beat the company’s target by 7.4%, with the Vietnamese company producing 10.2 billion cubic metres.
PetroVietnam expects this number to fall about 3.9% next year, to 9.8 Bcm.
The expected fall in output comes amid volatile oil price which have fallen nearly 50% in the past six months and which the company said could affect its expansion plans.
Reuters reported that Vietnam saw its crude export revenues fall by 0.7% in 2014, to just under $7.2 billion, despite export volumes rising 8.9% to nearly 9.2 million tonnes.
PetroVietnam expects its revenue to drop 515 trillion dong ($24 billion) next year based on an average price of $60 per barrel.
Even if prices come in at the top of its forecasts at $100 per barrel, the company still expects to only generate 718.4 trillion dong, compared with 745.5 trillion dong this year.
Oil prices dropped to five year lows this week and in early trade on Wednesday, Brent was trading at $57.26 on Wednesday, while US crude was trading at $53.65 a barrel.
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