President Truong Tan Sang on Jan. 16 visited the headquarters of the
Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) to deliver seasonal
greetings to its leader and staff members.
Sang wished
the group more successes in the new year by making the most of new
opportunities and hoped it will become the country's leading economic
group and reach out to the world.
The group chairman Phung Dinh Thuc said it will continue cutting investment in non-core businesses this year.
The group will not inject capital into the 79-floor PVN Tower , he
affirmed. The tower is one of the highest buildings in Vietnam with
an estimated investment capital of 600 million USD. The project is
being implemented by PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC), an
affiliate of PetroVietnam.
"Last year, PetroVietnam
reviewed its non-core projects and it cancelled 12 and delayed 44. As a
result, we saved 7.2 trillion VND (151.2 million USD). Thus, the group's
total investment capital last year was about 90 trillion VND (4.3
billion USD), 27 percent lower than earlier expectations," said Le Minh
Hong, the group's deputy director general.
The group will
spearhead five core business sectors, including oil and gas exploration
and exploitation; petro-chemical refinery; gas; power; and high-quality
oil and gas services.
The group plans to churn out 15.8
million tonnes of crude oil and 9 billion cubic metres of gas this year
earning 660 trillion VND (31.4 billion USD), 135 trillion VND (6.4
billion USD) of which will go into the State budget. It plans to pump
more than 108 trillion VND (5.1 billion USD) of that revenue into
investment, slightly less than last year.
The group
reached a total revenue of 675.3 trillion VND (32.1 billion USD) last
year, of which 160.8 trillion VND (7.6 billion USD) went into the State
budget.
Thuc attributed the good performance last year to
higher production, higher oil and gas prices, and better revenues from
oil and gas services.
The group's lower business expectations this year stem from the ongoing global economic crisis.
Sang also visited the Party Central Committee's Commission of
Inspection Commission of Organisation and the Ministry of Culture,
Sports and Tourism. /.
