Vietnam possesses encouraging petroleum engineering promise
THE petroleum engineering of Vietnam has achieved encouraging results over the years, helping gradually raise the prestige of the country on the global map of petroleum chemical manufacturers.
The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) has built a modern petroleum engineering company capable of producing mechanical products to meet the demand for oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities which can replace similar imported mechanical products.
Thirty years ago, the VietnamRussia oil and gas joint venture Vietsovpetro had to move the oil rig base from Baku, Azerbaijan to install offshore at the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province for oil and gas exploration and exploitation at the Bach Ho (white tiger) oil field.
But now, the sector has been able to not only manufacture, install and operate rigs for oil and gas exploration and exploitation on Vietnam’s continental shelf but also export mechanical products, contributing to increasing the country’s foreign currency revenue.
Through a process of formation and development, with accumulated experience and continuous learning, the petroleum engineering industry of the PVN has gradually mastered the technology and continuously innovated to create outstanding achievements.
The development was marked with the successful manufacturing of jack-up drilling rigs Tam Dao 03 and 05. These drilling rigs have operated safely and sustainably, bringing i n high efficiency for Vietsov petro.
The successful manufacture of the drilling rigs Tam Dao 03 and 05 has helped position Vietnam as one of the very few countries in the world that successfully made modern and international standard drilling rigs.
This is the first mechanical product manufactured in Vietnam applying high technology with a localisation rate of 35 per cent.
It also affirmed the trademark of the petroleum sector’s mechanical manufacturing services when its products can replace imported deep water drilling platforms.
The petroleum engineering industry has also developed to be able to meet demands for oil rig manufacture and installation of foreign petroleum companies.
In 2014, the PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation announced the load-out and delivery of the Heera Redevelopment (HRD) Process Platform in southern Ba RiaVung Tau province’s Vung Tau city after 17 months of manufacturing.
The platform was highly appreciated by its investor, India’s state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), partners, contractors and supervisors.
This is the first and biggest HRD Process Platform manufactured by a Vietnamese company for a foreign client via international bidding.
These achievements proved that petroleum engineering companies have gradually approached, implemented and mastered the technology of manufacturing and building petroleum projects which require high accuracy, skills, quality and safety standards.
The successful construction of the Bien Dong 01 project, for example, can be considered a miracle of Vietnam’s petroleum sector, which proves the potential of the petroleum engineering industry.
It is considered the most complicated project of the petroleum sector in all aspects – progress, technology and scale.
The project was developed by the group to exploit two gas and condensate fields – Hai Thach and Moc Tinh – with duration expected to be 25 years and a capacity of 8.5 million cubic metres of natural gas per day.
The whole process – from designing and equipment and material purchasing to manufacturing – was implemented within 30 months, something not many contractors in the world could achive, according to the PVN. The project proved the skills and knowledge of Vietnamese experts, engineers and workers in the petroleum industry.
In the new context, the PVN will strive to continue successfully manufacturing more modern mechanical petroleum projects with support from the government and the concerted efforts of its staff despite the challenges ahead.
At a recent conference on measures to boost the development of the mechanical industr y of Vietnam, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the government would build a market for mechanica l businesses to develop, including creating conditions for businesses to supply t heir products to the domestic market and seek opportunities to expand export markets for mechanical petroleum products of Vietnam.