PetroVietnam targets 20% earnings growth

Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, a state- owned oil producer, is targeting average earnings growth of 18 per cent to 20 per cent a year through 2015. PetroVietnam, as the company is known, is also targeting to produce 23 million to 24 million metric tonnes of crude oil annually during the period, according to a statement on the government\'s website that cited a plan approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The Hanoi-based company also aims to meet as much as 60 per cent of domestic demand for petroleum products during the period, with refining capacity of about 16 million to 17 million tonnes a year, according to the statement. The oil producer also expects to put three ethanol plants into \"stable\" operation to ensure output of ethanol products by 2012.