Leading officials of PetroVietnam and Gazprom _ Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)Over thepast 50 years of development, the oil and gas industry is one of thecountry's main economic sectors contributing to ensuring national energysecurity. It also serves to protect national sovereignty at sea, and was one of the nation’s pioneeringsectors in international cooperation, helping Vietnamrapidly integrate into theworld economy.
After 1975, with the collaboration of foreign partners, the sector established a series of partnerships andcooperation, mainly in thefield of training. The first team of petroleum technicians in Vietnam wereformally trained at famous Soviet universities. In addition, popular universities of Azerbaijan, Romania, Hungary, Poland, and France, among other nations also trained many key technical stafffor the Vietnamese sector.
In 1986, the first tonne of commercial oil was extracted from Bach Ho (White Tiger) oil field, which is operated by theVietnam-Russia oil and gas joint venture Vietsovpetro. The landmark event put Vietnam on thelist of oil and gas producing countries in the world, marking a solid stepforward to a promisingfuture for the local industry.
During the 1988 – 1990period, Petrovietnam signed seven petroleum product sharing contracts (PSCs)with leading oil and gas companies in the world, creating opportunities formany more to be sealed later. In 1992, the group inked dozens of oil andgas exploration and production contracts with international partners.
Cooperationbetween PetroVietnam andinternational partners were initially limited to oil and gas exploration and production projects. Alongwith expanding its scale of operations, the group broadenedthe scope of such collaboration to such fields as construction, oil and gasprocessing, and oilfieldtechnology and services.
In 1995, Vietnam joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and established diplomatic relations with the United States, ushering in a new periodof cooperation development between Petrovietnam and US oil corporations and ASEAN nations. It marked the rise of the group in seekingopportunities and investing in oil and gas exploration and production inforeign nations such as Russia, Malaysia, and Algeria,in addition to attracting foreign direct investment in growing the industry at home.
In September2006, Vietnam secured the first tonne of crude oil exploited in Malaysia. Themilestone marked the success of PetroVietnam's overseas investment in oil andgas exploration and production. The move contributed to the increase in oilproduction output of the entire industry and help ensure national energysecurity.
In the 2006 – 2007 period, the VietnamOil and Gas Group completed the development of a strategy for overseas investment and oil and gas diplomacy. In the early stages, the implementation of Petrovietnam'soffshore investment activities faced many difficulties. However, thanks to the highdetermination and timely resolution of the Government and the active support of relevant ministries andsectors, such operations are growing and yielding many successfuloutcomes.
In a word, thegroup has built itself into aprestigious domestic and international brand with a scientific andtechnological level similar to that of developed countries. It boasts a large scale, highly competitive and significant internationalintegration. The company has a growing team of highlyskilled professionaltechnicians and managers.
In the strategicvision of the oil and gas industry toward 2035, proactive internationalintegration is the main task of PetroVietnam to transform into a key economicsector with high competitiveness and strength in finance, science andtechnology./.
VNA
