The Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) will hasten its process of restructuring in 2014, with 80 percent of planned reform completed last year, a leading official of the company has said.

With some 6,200 outlets nationwide, the group operates in various areas ranging from petroleum and gas to insurance, transportation and services.

According to Petrolimex General Director Tran Van Thinh, the group contributed 31.3 trillion VND (roughly 1.4 billion USD) to the State budget last year, representing a year-on-year rise of 14 percent.

Holding about 52 percent of the market share, the group mainly focuses in mountainous and midland areas, especially those where the socio-economic situation remains unstable, he said.

The Petrolimex leader added that the group accounts for up to 90 percent of the market share in the poor localities. Meanwhile, the figure stands at only 30-40 percent in Ho Chi Minh City and Mekong Delta provinces.

The Russia-Vietnam oil and gas joint venture, Vietsovpetro, has set a target of pumping up 5.1 million tonnes of crude oil, raking in more than 3.8 billion USD in 2014.

Tu Thanh Nghia, Vietsovpetro General Director, said at 2014 task conference on January 19 that the joint venture earned 4.75 billion USD in 2013, 1.05 billion USD higher than the set target.

The joint venture contributed 2.89 billion USD to the State budget, he said, adding that its performance in drilling, exploitation and reserve increase exceeded from 3 percent to 40 percent compared with the targets.

Thanks to an array of solutions, the joint venture exploited nearly 5,600 tonnes of oil, 156,000 tonnes higher than the yearly target, Nghia said.

Along with 187 million USD earned from other services, the joint venture had, for the first time, seen its spending on production drop compared with the previous year with a year-on-year decrease of over 60 million USD, he said.-VNA