Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung speaks at the meeting of PetroVietnam on January 12 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Trinh DinhDung attended a meeting on January 12 of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group(PetroVietnam), asking it to thoroughly address problems of five ailingprojects in 2018.
These projects are the Dinh Vu polyester fibrefactory, the Dung Quat shipbuilding factory, and three bio-fuel plants.
At the meeting, which reviewed the group’sperformance in 2017 and set tasks for 2018, the Deputy PM recognisedPetroVietnam’s efforts to complete most of the tasks assigned by theGovernment.
However, there remain problems that may affectPetroVietnam’s development in 2018 and the following years, he said,elaborating that most existing oil and gas fields are now in the final stage ofexploitation, leading to a decline in output, while the exploration of newfields is still slow due to limited capital and capacity.
In addition, the group has several poor-performinginvestment projects in Vietnam and other countries, which has influenced itsprestige.
Challenges also come from outside factors suchas unstable oil price recovery and output decrease in existing fields.
Deputy PM Dung told PetroVietnam to continueimplementing offshore oil and gas projects in Vietnam’s continental shelf whilespeeding up key projects currently lagging behind schedule like the upgrade andexpansion of the Dung Quat oil refinery, the Nghi Son refinery andpetrochemical complex, and the southern petrochemical complex.
Speaking at the event, PetroVietnam DirectorGeneral Nguyen Vu Truong Son said the group aims to exploit 22.83 milliontonnes of oil equivalent, including 13.23 million tonnes of crude oil, in 2018.It will step up exploration activities so as to raise oil and gas reserves thisyear to 10 – 15 million tonnes of oil equivalent.
The firm will also press on with divestment ofState capital from businesses in line with the 2017-2020 plan approved by thePrime Minister, thoroughly deal with issues at the five ailing projects, carryout timely solutions to cope with oil price changes, and accelerate theprogress of lagging projects.-VNA
VNA
