Applause for Vietnamese-Russian joint venture

A. Syunnenberg

Dec 23, 2010 13:32 Moscow Time

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There are several Vietnamese-Russian joint ventures that play a significant role in developing the economy and upgrading living standards of Vietnam. However, “Vietsovpetro”, which is developing offshore oil deposits in southern Vietnam, is the only joint venture that has been honoured with the highest awards of the country. It has been awarded the Hero of Labour title twice and the Order of Ho Chi Minh once. The joint venture has recently been honoured with the Order of the Golden Star.

The “Vietsovpetro”, which was founded in 1981 by the Soviet Union’s “Zarubeshneft” Company and Petrovietnam Company, has been among the ten largest oil companies in the world in the past ten years. Its share is more then half of the overall oil production in Vietnam. Consequently, the Vietnamese government’s move is justifiable.

In fact, the production of oil became possible owing to the heroic efforts of the Soviet petroleum experts. According to the scientific knowledge of the time, there should not be oil under the offshore granite layers of South Vietnam at all. This was confirmed by the experience of 11 oil companies in the world that explored oil deposits on the request of at the time Saigon government. These companies drilled 18 experimental wells but failed to discover oil.

However, the Soviet oil experts who came to Vung Tau in 1979 unanimously confirmed the presence of oil. The five oil wells drilled by them confirmed the presence of a large amount of oil. “We felt by instinct where to drill,” said one of the Soviet experts who was involved in drilling, Yevgeny Areshev, who was awarded with the Hero of Labour title of Vietnam.

The joint venture has earned about 33 billion U.S. dollars since 1986 when it stated oil production and has produced from 20 to 30 percent budget revenue annually. During this period Russia received about 9 billion U.S. dollars. The “Vietsovpetro” Company has guaranteed itself a place among the four leading oil producers in South East Asia.

Praising the joint venture, the general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nong Duk Manh has this to say.

“Cooperation in the oil and gas sector is an important area in bilateral relations. When Ho Chi Minh visited one of the Soviet oil fields in the 50s, he dreamed of developing this area with the assistance of Soviet experts in Vietnam. The Soviet Union started rendering assistance in the north in the 60s and in the south after the unification of the country. 1981 was a historical year when the two countries signed an agreement on setting up the “Vietsovpetro”. I can remember how people rejoiced when they listened to the news about the production of the first ton of oil. At present, we produce hundreds of millions of tons a year, and “Vietsovpetro” is the leading oil company in the country. This is an excellent school for thousands of Vietnamese oil workers,” said Nong Duk Manh.