Dung Quat refinery makes four new products; Piaggio factory opens in Vietnam; New mobile phone operator set to enter the fray; Production Sharing Contract signed for Block No 05.1 (a), Nam Con Son Basin offshore Vietnam
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Deputy P.M Hai congratulated the company on the success and development of its business in Vietnam .
He also asked authorities and relevant sectors in the province to improve the investment environment further to create favourable conditions for the company in production and business.
The factory was built on a total area of 135,000sq.m with a total investment of 30 million USD. It has an annual capacity of 100,000 units of 125cc and 150cc scooters and is expected to double that capacity in the future.
At the inauguration ceremony, Piaggio Vietnam debuted the made-in-Vietnam Vespa LX 125 2009. It expects to sell 15,0000 units this year.
Piaggo has sold imported Vespa scooter in Vietnam at around 5,000 USD. The locally-made vehicle will be around 1,500 USD cheaper, the company said.
Dung Quat refinery makes four new products
Vietnam’s first oil refinery at Dung Quat began to produce four new products on June 25 – liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), aviation fuel ZA1, and A92 and A95 gasoline.
A day earlier the catalytic cracking unit, the most important plant at the Dung Quat Oil Refinery went on stream at 75 percent capacity.
The refinery is scheduled to start production of LPG, gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel on a commercial basis at the end of June.
All 14 plants are expected to start operating at full capacity by August this year.
New mobile phone operator set to enter the fray
Gtel Mobile, a mobile phone service providing joint venture between Global Telecommunication Corp. (Gtel) and Russia’s VimpelCom Group, said its network would be put into operation next month.
The Beeline-trademark network will carry the four initial digits of 0199, the company said.
Gtel Mobile expects to gain about 20 percent of the domestic market in the next five years, marketing manager Sergei Zakurayev said.
VimpelCom recently said it had carried out careful market surveys and believed in future success in Vietnam. Zakurayev said there was room for his company to grow here.
However, some industry experts doubt the timing is right for Gtel Mobile as the country’s three largest mobile operators – Viettel, MobiFone and VinaPhone – have pushed charges to very low levels.
Another disadvantage for Gtel Mobile is its failure to obtain a license to provide third-generation (3G) services, they said.
3G refers to the third generation of mobile telephone technology which increases bandwidth and supports more diverse applications.
Gtel Mobile said it would offer “attractive” charges to different kinds of Vietnamese customers.
The six mobile service providers currently operating in Vietnam are Vinaphone, MobiFone, Viettel, S-Fone, EVN Telecom and HT Mobile.
Production Sharing Contract signed for Block No 05.1 (a), Nam Con Son Basin offshore Vietnam
The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) and the Petrovietnam Exploration Production Corporation Ltd. (PVEP) signed a Petroleum Production Sharing Contract for Block No 05.1(a), Nam Con Son Basin offshore Vietnam, in Vung Tau city on June 25.
This is the first Petroleum Contract in Vietnam PVEP entirely invests and operates through the Dai Hung Petroleum Operating Company Ltd.
Block No 05-1(a) is located southern offshore Vietnam, in Nam Con Son Basin with a depth of over 100m, about 265 kilometres away from Ba Ria – Vung Tau.
The signing of the contract for the purpose of continuance of the Dai Hung project of great significance to the Petrovietnam Exploration Production Corporation in particular and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group in general. In addition to establishing a management and responsibility delegation mechanism in conformity with the international practice, the signing and implementation of this contract firmly proves ability, capability and expertise of PVEP in petroleum exploration and production activities, particularly in deep waters, contributing to guaranteeing national energy security.
On October 28, 2003, in the Official Document No. 1467/CP-DK, the PVEP was assigned by the Prime Minister to further operate and exploit the Dai Hung field. Since then, PVEP has pumped about 700 thousand tons of oil and contributed about US $63 million to the State Budget.
On February 23, 2007, the Prime Minister signed Decision No 254/QÄ-TTg approving plan for Dai Hung Field 2nd development phase with the objectives to achieve the first oil from the northern wells at the end of 2008 and southern wells in 2011 (production rate of 18.000 barrels per day) and total estimated investment costs of US $731 million.
17 million new phone subscribers in six months
That 8.8 million new phone subscribers nationwide were developed in June brings the number of new phone subscribers in six months to 17 million.
Accordingly, the total number of phone subscribers in the country are 99 million (of which the mobile subscribers accounts 86%), reaching an average ratio of 114 phones per 100 residents. Out of 99 million subscribers, 58% subscribers chose VNPT and 33% chose Viettel.
120,000 broadband Internet subscribers were added in June, raising the newly developed subscribers in six months to 470,000 subscribers according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. So far, there have been 2.4 million broadband Internet subscribers throughout the country to reach the ratio of 2.8 subscribers per 100 residents.
VietNamNet/VNA, ND, TN, SGGP