Vietnam to intensify oil, gas and mining to meet growth target

HANOI, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam will further tap oil, gas, coal and other minerals to help realize its economic growth of 6.7 percent set for this year, the country's Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Friday.

The ministry has been instructed by the government to boost production of drinks, chemicals and minerals, with crude oil output being at least one million tons more than the annualized plan.

Vietnam is striving to pump out additional 1 million tons of crude oil and one million cubic meters of natural gas, raising the total to nearly 13.3 million tons of oil and 10.6 billion cubic meters of gas this year.

The country will also create more favorable conditions for firms specialized in mining and processing valuable minerals such as titanium ores and white limestone, the ministry said, adding that it will not mine more coal, since it is hard to expand coal markets.

Vietnam exported over 2.6 million tons of crude oil totaling nearly 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months of this year, down 12 percent in volume but up 18.5 percent in value against the same period last year, said the country's General Statistics Office.

Meanwhile, Vietnam exported 844,000 tons of coal worth 123 million U.S. dollars, posting year-on-year surges of 243.4 percent and 428.5 percent.