Coal mining dumps of Cua Ong Coal Selection Company, a member of Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Industry and Trade has requested state-owned coal and oil-gasproducers to develop plans and measures to response to impact of the acute respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The ministry asked the Vietnam National Coal – MineralIndustries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) and the military-run DongBac Corporation to get ready for the negative impact of the epidemic, sayingthey must prepare sufficient personnel, equipment and supplies for coalproduction and distribution, and to ensure stable supply for their customers,especially power producers.
It also ordered the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam)to keep a close watch on the global market developments and take propermeasures to cope with falling crude oil prices as a result of theepidemic.
After theepidemic began spreading, the Brent crude oil price plunged from around 65 USDper barrel to 57 USD per barrel on February 17, lower than the assumption of 60USD per barrel in the State budget estimate for this year.
The threecompanies must also speed up their key coal and oil production projects andimmediately report any major difficulties and bottlenecks to authorisedrepresentatives of the State capital ownership to get timely directions.
Vietnam’s coalimports have been on a rise over the past few years, mostly used for coal-fired power plants.
According toVinacomin, the country imported about 36.82 million tonnes of coal in the first10 months of last year, up 112.3 percent from the same period of 2018. Chinawas among Vietnam’s four largest coal suppliers, together with Indonesia,Australia and Russia.
Under national Power Development Plan VII,a total of 60,000 MW is expected to be generated in Vietnam by 2020, with coal-fired plants accounting for 42.7 percent,followed by hydropower (30.1 percent), gas-fired plants (14.9 percent), andrenewables (9.9 percent)./.
VNA
