Energy giants to move with economy

Two state-owned energy giants remain upbeat despite having to curtail investment under government orders.

PetroVietnam and Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), which account for half of state-run groups and corporations’ total investment capital needed to be pared down in 2011 under the government’s Resolution 11, said they were upbeat despite being forced to trim most investment capital in response to the government’s bid to curb high inflation and stabilise the macroeconomy.

PetroVietnam’s general director Phung Dinh Thuc said PetroVientam would screw down many of its various projects worth VND7.25 trillion ($362 million) during 2011.

Those included one project worth VND10 billion ($500,000) in the gas industry, three oil and gas projects (VND83 billion-$4.15 million), 12 service and construction projects (VND703 billion-$35.15 million). PetroVietnam would also re-schedule four oil and gas projects, two electricity projects, 28 service projects and many other projects.

“The cut will not affect PetroVietnam’s business performance. We are quite optimistic about the performance,” Thuc said.

The group was also implementing a series of offshore gas projects to raise the group’s gas supplies to 15 billion cubic metres by 2015 from the expected 8.5 billion cubic metres this year.

PetroVietnam’s deputy general director Vu Quang Nam reported that the group would by the year’s end have exploited 15 million tonnes of crude oil, produced 770,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser, 12.51 billion kWh of power and 5.6 million tonnes of assort gasoline and oil. PetroVietnam’s total revenue would be $11.95 billion, up 45 per cent against last year’s.

Meanwhile, EVN and its subsidiaries have decided to cancel and re-schedule this year the construction of nearly 300 projects with total investment of VND12.6 billion ($628 million), down 15 per cent against the initial plan, in response to Resolution 11.

“EVN’s move will not affect the country’s power supply or investment into key constructions,” said a EVN release.

EVN reported that in the year’s first half, EVN commissioned six turbines of five power projects whose total capacity is 1,085 megawatt. Some 1,700MW was also added to the country’s power system and 56 power grids ranging from 110 to 500KV were also completed.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), state-run groups and corporations’ investment forced to be truncated in 2011 totals over 39.21 trillion ($1.96 billion) for 907 projects.

MPI Minister Vo Hong Phuc said the cut would contribute to trimming the government’s investment from the initially-set 40 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to below 38 per cent of GDP in 2011. – VIR

Tags: Vietnam electricity, Vietnam energy, Vietnam power shortage