am-Russian joint venture Vietsovpetro plans to produce 5 million mt of crude oil from Vietnam in 2016, down 3.85% from the estimated 5.2 million mt in 2015, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The expected crude oil production in 2015 is 3% lower than 5.36 million mt in 2014. Vietsovpetro expects to pump 1.4 Bcm of natural gas in 2015, steady from 2014. It plans to produce 1.3 Bcm in 2016, down from estimated output this year. Due to low oil prices, Vietsovpetro's sales value in 2015 is estimated at $2.19 billion, falling 49.5% year on year. The company foresees another difficult year in terms of sales in 2016, on expected volatile global oil prices, Vietsovpetro said. Vietnam's state-owned PetroVietnam owns 51% stake in Vietsovpetro, and Russian Zarubezhneft holds the other 49%. Vietsovpetro is the owner of Block 09-1 in offshore southern Vietnam which contains the country's flagship Bach Ho oil field. The joint venture began production from Bach Ho in 1986 and the field is aging, according to PetroVietnam data.
