PetroVietnam stands firm amid “dual crisis”

 

Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) sustained its production and business activities in the first eight months of 2020 despites many oil and gas firms around the world struggling with the “dual crisis” of COVID-19 and prolonged low oil prices.

The picture of the global oil and gas industry since the beginning of the year has become bleaker than ever.

With the COVID-19 crisis triggering a nosedive in oil prices, BP - a British multinational oil and gas company - forecast the oil market will be in deep recession for a long time and decided to sell 20 billion USD worth of assets, especially in the field of exploration.

Saudi Aramco, an oil giant from Saudi Arabia, lost 50 percent of its profit in the first half of 2020 while suspending a deal to build a 10 billion-USD refining and petrochemical complex in China.

Meanwhile, the US’s ExxonMobil - one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies - was recently removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is facing a budget deficit of 48 billion USD in 2021. It is predicted to suffer about 1.9 billion USD in losses this year after posting two consecutive quarterly losses for the first time in its history.

Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) show that investment in global oil and gas activities in 2020 has fallen 30 percent to 328.4 billion USD, while noting that oil and gas businesses have had to cut investment amid tumbling revenue.

PetroVietnam, one of those with extensive international integration, was no exception.

During the first eight months of this year, complex developments from COVID-19 greatly affected its performance in most fields it operates in.

Braving the difficulties, PetroVietnam still managed to maintain its key production and business activities, with oil and gas exploitation surpassing 8.2 percent of the target and State budget contributions nearing 45 trillion VND, while the supply of key commodities for the economy was ensured during the period.

These figures stand out amid the gloomy picture of the global oil and gas industry, which is currently under pressure from both declining demand and increasing supply.

PetroVietnam has undergone a number of trying times, but many experts and insiders say this current period is the most difficult in its history. But it still stands firm.

As a pillar of the economy assigned major responsibilities by the Party, the State, and the people, PetroVietnam and its staff, with a tradition of dedication and trained in hardships, have gradually weathered the difficulties to fulfil their duties.

Exerting efforts to create and maintain cohesion in the group’s staff, its leaders have identified the problems faced to share knowledge and experience, warn of risks, and encourage one another to together overcome the challenges, thereby building up trust, harmonious coordination, and unanimity in its apparatus for the sake of the group’s development.

PetroVietnam believes that it will achieve targets set for 2020 over the remaining months of the year, as it has thoroughly geared up solutions and resources to be ready to cope with the “dual crisis”.

Among the eight groups of solutions it has identified to deal with the current circumstances, two are being implemented in a proactive, concerted, and drastic manner.

The first includes improving the quality of corporate governance, boosting decentralisation, overhauling its document system and internal management regulations, stepping up digitalisation, and promoting risk governance. Meanwhile, the second covers capitalising on technological solutions to lower expenses and improve productivity, and reducing and delaying spending on non-urgent activities to minimise production costs.

At a working session with PetroVietnam on September 10, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh stressed that the group has the responsibility for helping guarantee national energy security and serving as a locomotive for national development. It is an economic pillar of the country, acts as a tool of the Government in regulating the macro-economy, and makes substantial contributions to the State budget.

He noted that PetroVietnam can be proud of itself, becoming a major brand name in the country and the world with a scientific-technological capacity comparable to other groups in developed nations, and boasting high competitiveness.

Applauding it overcoming difficulties and posting impressive production and business results, the Deputy Prime Minister said that State-owned enterprises have a substantial role to play in Vietnam reaching the 2020 growth target, and PetroVietnam’s contributions are of critical importance./.