PM urges Vietsovpetro to increase oil reserves

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PM Dung made the proposal at the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the signing of an agreement between the governments of Vietnam and the former Soviet Union on the establishment of Vietsovpetro, an oil and gas joint venture enterprise between Vietnam and Russia, and 25 years since extracting the first tonne of crude oil in Vietnam’s continental shelf.

During 30 years of implementation of the 1981 Inter-overnmental Agreement and the Vietnam-Soviet Union and Vietnam-Russia Agreements on oil and gas joint venture, the staff of Vietnam ’s oil and gas sector had effectively cooperated with Soviet Union and Russian colleagues to develop Vietsovpetro into a leading oil and gas industrial establishment in the country.

The activities of Vietsovpetro, which now has a staff of almost 7,000 people, including almost 180 MAs and PhD degree holders, helped to open a new development period for Vietnam’s oil and gas sector.

The joint venture had become the focus of inventions and application of the latest technologies and human resources training for the country’s oil and gas sector.

Since the first tonne of crude was extracted in 1986, the joint venture has tapped more than 193 million tonnes of crude oil and more than 23 billion cubic metres of associated gas, making important contributions to ensuring energy security for the nation and to exports and helping increase income for Vietnam and Russia’s state budgets.

With 30 years of oil and gas exploration and production, building oil and gas projects and conducting scientific research at sea and on the continental shelf, Vietsovpetro, together with the entire people and army, had made important contributions to affirming, preserving and defending Vietnam’s sacred sovereignty over the East Sea .

The 30-year operation of Vietsovpetro had contributed to fostering the traditional friendship and relations between the state and people of Vietnam and the state and people of the former Soviet Union and the Russian Federation.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung thanked the government and people of the Russian Federation for their valuable assistance to Vietnamese people during past struggles for national liberation and in the current national modernisation.

He also commended Russian friends, particularly former Soviet Union and Russian oil senior cadres, scientists and experts, on their contributions to building and developing Vietsovpetro and the nation’s oil and gas sector.

He suggested PetroVietnam and Vietsovpetro prioritise exploration activities in offshore areas of Vietnam’s continental shelf, and actively study and seek opportunities to open their operational areas in Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and third countries.

The sector should also improve human resource quality and workers’ living conditions, he said.