President Ho Chi Minh visited Bacu Oil and Gas Industrial Park in the former Soviet Union

From initial decisions

Following President Ho Chi Minh’s visit to the Bacu Oil and Gas Industrial Park in Azerbaijan of the former Soviet Union, many Vietnamese officials were sent to the former Soviet Union and other socialist countries to learn about the oil and gas industry. The former Soviet Union sent several experienced experts to help Vietnam survey and assess oil and gas potential in order to develop a master plan on oil and gas exploration in northern Vietnam. The plan was called “Report on oil and gas prospects in northern Vietnam.”

Later, Oil Exploration Team 36 was set up on November 27, 1961. But due to the war with numerous difficulties and dangers of bomb and mines, it was until 14 years later that Team 36 discovered a natural and condensate gas flow with commercial values at oil rig 61 offshore Tien Hai, Thai Binh province with verified reserves of up to 1.3 million m3. The discovery provided valuable information about geological structure and oil and gas potential in the lowland of Hanoi and An Chau.

Oil and gas port in Vung Tau city

“Our Vietnam has sea, we surely have oil”, said Uncle Ho. Less than 3 months after the south was liberated and the country was reunified, the Vietnamese Party and State started to build the oil and gas sector to realize Uncle Ho’s will. Based on assessment on potential of Vietnam’s continental shelf, on August 9, 1975, the Party Politburo issued Resolution 244-NQ/TW on oil and gas exploration nationwide. This was the first Party document on oil and gas and was the guideline throughout the construction and comprehensive development of the Vietnamese oil and gas sector.

On August 20, 1975, the National Assembly Standing Committee adopted Decision No 33- QN/QH/K5 on the establishment of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation. More than 10 days later, based on the Resolution and this Decision, on September 3, 1975, the Government Council issued Decree 170/CP on the establishment of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation. The move was considered a record in Vietnam’s economic development history. Within 43 days, a Corporation was set up and assigned with an important task of building a new economic sector which embraces high technical and unique features while the country had neither experience nor resources and at the same time had numerous works to do after the war.

Oil and gas exploitation at sea

The Vietnamese Party and State’s determination to and aspiration for economic development and promotion of searching, exploring and exploiting oil and gas are reflected in Resolution 244:”Quickly establish a holistic oil and gas industry focusing on oil and gas exploration, exploitation, transportation, oil refinery, petrochemical, mechanical service.” With a foresight, the Resolution also affirms: "In the process of cooperation, we must uphold national sovereignty, maintain independence and self-reliance, quickly increase our potential, and move towards self-reliance at the highest possible level.”

In order to realize the above goal amid the immediate urgent requirement of exploring oil and gas, the Party immediately dispatched army generals who had experience in battle and high will and discipline together with military companies specialized on the construction of the oil and gas industry.

Those soldiers had neither knowledge of oil and gas nor mechanical and technical skills at all. Yet, they were the ones who built service bases for the oil and gas industry and rushed to the sea to search for and explore oil and gas.

Taking advantage of each day and each hour to learn from foreign experts, the oil and gas seekers of that generation devoted their youth, energy, and ambition to pursue their goal of finding oil to make the homeland rich.

In the late 70s, with determination to develop the oil and gas industry as a driving force for industrialization and economic development, the Party Politburo signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the former Soviet Union, which included the joint venture cooperation in oil and gas exploration and production in some blocks in Vietnam’s southern continental shelf. The first result was the birth of Vietsovpetro and oil and gas exploration activities in the Cuu Long and Nam Con Son basins.

At the Vietnam Gas Regulation Center

Stay confident in difficulties

In 1988, the discovery and effective exploitation with high output of large oil reserves in the cracked foundation rock of Bach Ho field entered the world history of oil and gas exploitation. We cannot forget that just a year earlier, the yields of Vietsovpetro's new oil rigs had declined to an unimaginable extent.

A series of Russian experts were transferred or disciplined because of the poor performance of the Joint Venture. Some even thought about dissolving Vietsovpetro. But the Party and State leaders still keep their faith and expectation in the oil and gas workers always sharing and encouraging them to brainstorm, explore and resolve difficult problems concerning science and technology. As a result, for the first time ever in the world, Vietnamese oil and gas workers found oil in the basement rock layer. This success not only saved Vietsovpetro's life, but also opened a new chapter for the search, exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in the waters of Vietnam's sovereignty and jurisdiction.

Right after this milestone discovery, on 7/7/1988, the Party Politburo immediately issued Resolution No. 15-NQ/TW on the Development Orientation of Vietnam's Oil and Gas Industry until 2000, affirming the importance of the oil and gas industry and innovation in oil and gas activities. The Resolution created a wide horizon for the development of Vietnam’s oil and gas industry. In the 1990-2005 period, Vietnam's oil and gas industry boosted extensive international cooperation thus increasing oil and gas output and reserves rapidly.

In 2006, the Party Politburo issued Conclusion No. 41-KL/TW on the development strategy of Vietnam's oil and gas industry until 2015 and orientation to 2025 along with approving the establishment of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group. The Group continues its historic mission to realize Uncle Ho's will- to complete and modernize the oil and gas technology chain, synchronize search, exploration, exploitation and development of the gas industry, electricity industry, high quality oil and gas processing and services. Many power production centers were established such as Nhon Trach, Ca Mau Gas - Electricity - Fertilizer industrial cluster, Dung Quat oil refinery, etc.

During this period, thanks to the support of the Party and State leaders, many oil and gas projects were implemented and made great contributions to the country. The construction of Dung Quat Oil Refinery is an example. There were many objections and doubts about the qualifications of the oil and gas workers when working in an oil refinery. But, at that time, the Party Politburo, the Government and late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet stood side by side with oil and gas workers. It was the Prime Minister’s  determination and will that made petroleum workers more confident and determined to build the plant.

There were also a lot of oppositions and doubts over the construction of Phu My Fertilizer Plant, Dinh Co Gas Plant, Ca Mau Gas - Power - Fertilizer Complex, Hua Na Hydropower Plant, and Dak Drinh. But above all, with the trust and support of the Party and State leaders, these projects were gradually completed and put into operation. Without that trust and support and without those who dared to step in and move forward to the frontline with difficulties and challenges, where would the oil and gas industry go?

It’s impossible not to mention the Bien Dong Project 01 to exploit gas and condensate in the Hai Thach - Moc Tinh field cluster, which was the "goose that lays golden eggs" for the country's economy with more than 957 million USD contributed to the state budget after nearly 8 years of exploitation (as of June 28, 2021). But not many people know this project exploits an area with the most difficult and dangerous geological structure in the world because of extremely high gas pressure and extremely high temperature. Oil and gas exploitation was so difficult and dangerous that the world's leading oil and gas group BP had to give up after pouring 500 million USD into the project with 9 years of exploration and research. But the drastic and strong support of the Government, joint efforts by the ministries and sectors and above all the trust in the wisdom and bravery of the oil and gas workers made things possible. Untilk now, those involved in the construction of the project completely agreed that without the determination of the Government, the Party and the State leaders, the Bien Dong Project 01 cannot be as successful as it is today.

An overview of the Ca Mau Gas-Electricity-Fertilizer Cluster

There must be an aspiration for a future of strength and prosperity

With the spirit of "Drastic innovation, dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility, make timely decisions" and with the motto "Synergy, modernity, integration, acceleration of development", revenue of Petrovietnam in the 2006 - 2010 period increased more than 22% annually in 5 years, equivalent to 18-20% of the national GDP; State budget contributions increased by 14% per year on average, accounting for 28-30%/year of total state budget revenue.

In the 2011-2015 period, the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group became a key economic driver of Vietnam with the largest scale and largest assets among all economic sectors, contributing more than 214.1 trillion VND  (10.1 billion USD) to the State Budget.

During this period, the Party and State were aware of internal problems of Petrovietnam. The oil and gas industry continuously faced difficulties due to unpredictable oil price fluctuations, weak governance and management of production and business activities, ineffective development investment, personnel work, inspection and supervision. Slow changes in the management method would create barriers for the Group's development in the future.

In that context, on July 23, 2015, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong signed Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW of the Party Politburo on "Strategic orientations for development of Vietnam's oil and gas industry to 2025 and Vision to 2035" with an extremely important point concerning the development orientation for the Group which says "Developing Vietnam's oil and gas industry in line with the principles of the market economy; improving effectiveness and efficiency of the state management and enhancing activeness in business governance”. Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW has opened up a new opportunity for the Group's development and created a great motivation for oil and gas workers to move forward with confidence and aspiration.

On October 16, 2015, the Prime Minister issued a Decree detailing a number of articles of the Petroleum Law and creating an important legal framework to ensure the strong, stable development of the oil and gas industry toward modernity and international standards.

An overview of Dung Quat Oil Refinery

At a meeting to review the performance of and work out tasks for Petrovietnam in 2020, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized: "You have regained a new growth momentum, a new normal status. There are many things that we think we can't recover, but we did. Now that we need to stay united and determined to bring the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group forward. This is a huge effort. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong told me, as the Prime Minister, to attend the meeting to acknowledge the employees of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group for their achievements and transformations to grow again in the new context”. The acknowledgment of the Government leader is a solid spiritual fulcrum for Petrovietnam to gain strength to overcome difficulties and challenges.

Petrovietnam - the core nucleus of Vietnam's oil and gas industry, has so far built a complete and coordinated oil and gas industry chain from upstream, midstream, to downstream. The oil and gas industry is making great contributions to the country's socio-economic development, creating a driving force for development of many regions and localities. Petrovietnam's key products such as electricity, nitrogen fertilizer, gasoline, oil, and gas... are contributing to ensuring energy security and food security for the country and creating a foundation for many industries and sectors to grow.

Particularly, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the first 10 months of 2021, Petrovietnam has made an important contribution to the state budget revenue with 75.4 trillion VND, up 21% of the 2021 plan and 23% over the same period in 2020. While many large enterprises faced difficulties and losses due to the impact of the pandemic, Petrovietnam’s great contribution demonstrated the great efforts by the leadership of Petrovietnam and member agencies as well as nearly 60,000 oil and gas workers.

Looking back on the past journey, it’s clear that the oil nad gas industry with the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group playing the key role has experienced through several historical turning points that embrace prompt directions and orientation, and above all, the absolute trust of the leaders of the Party and State. Such trust has helped the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group overcome all difficulties and challenges and complete all the tasks assigned by the Party, State and people.

“Fire proves gold, adversity proves men”. Despite difficulties and challenges on the way ahead, we strongly believe that, with the forged bravery and the desire to dedicate of oil and gas workers, especially with the trust and support of the Party and State, the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group will continue to grow and contribute more to national socio-economic development.

There must be a strong desire for the future of strength and prosperity. This is always an order, a lodestar for every oil and gas worker!