HÀ NỘI - As a state-owned enterprise, and a mainstay of the economy, the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and its affiliates have strived to accomplish their dual goals of ensuring the health of their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic while limiting the impact on business and production.
The complicated and rapid development of the Delta variant in Việt Nam has caused many difficulties for production and business activities in the last eight months. Many cities and provinces have had to implement social distancing rules, including the main areas where PetroVietnam operates. The pandemic poses a big risk to the production output of the group, involving its key products of crude oil, petrol, gas and fertiliser.
As a result, the group has implemented drastic measures to continue operations, including online work, a vaccination campaign, 5K measures (facemask- disinfection- distance- no gathering - health declaration) and on-site accommodation and direct transport for employees.
PetroVietnam Gas Joint Stock Corporation (PV GAS) has implemented control measures such as “three on the spot” to strictly obey isolation requirements since June 2021, ensuring production safety.
General Director of PV Gas Dương Mạnh Sơn said his company had strictly carried out and followed instructions from both centrally-run and local authorities.
The company has worked out strict measures to ensure operations and business activities while preserving employees’ health amid the pandemic. Two-third of its employees have been vaccinated with the first jab.
The pandemic has harmed the pace of construction at Sông Hậu 1 thermal power plant in the southern province of Hậu Giang. Over the months, the managing board and contractors have made great efforts to push the construction pace by working online. An Song Hậu construction site has about 1,300 workers and contractors who, if unvaccinated, are likely to spread infection. If a COVID-19 case is found there, all affected workers will be put under concentrated quarantine and travelling will be limited, impacting productivity. If similar cases occur in oil rigs and seaports, the damage will not stop within the group but will cause unpredictable consequences to the economy.
Therefore, the group has made vaccination the top priority to prevent the pandemic and ensure product safety and trade.
Nguyễn Quỳnh Lâm, General Director of Vietsovpetro, said that Vietsovpetro had carried out all pandemic prevention measures. At least 80 per cent of its employees had been vaccinated.
Nguyễn Xuân Cường, General Director of PV Drilling, said his company had implemented measures to work from home. In addition, the company had also enhanced vaccination campaigns for its employees and strictly implemented pandemic control measures.
General director of PVOIL Đoàn, Văn Nhuộm, said that in HCM City, the epicentre of COVID-19 in the most recent wave, all petrol stations under PVOIL had conducted the rule of “three on the spot” and were strictly following the guidance issued by the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.
Amid the complicated developments of the pandemic, Lê Mạnh Hùng General Director of PetroVietnam, has asked its affiliates to focus on forecasting the market supply and demand to adjust its production and business plans accordingly.
PetroVietnam is also fully aware of the seriousness of the current pandemic resurgence. Its leaders have asked their affiliated companies to continue focusing on implementing value chain analysis to ensure stable and comprehensive development.
In addition, PetroVietnam has required all its subsidiaries to carry out measures to minimise costs and to make full use of digital transformation technology to optimise all its operations. It has conducted a list of risk management, administration of production and business activities to promptly respond and adapt to changes in the economy in the time to come.
Hoàng Quốc Vượng, Chairman of the Members’ Council of PetroVietnam, has called on its affiliates to realise the “unity, discipline, creativity and efficiency” motto of the PetroVietnam. It is a core value of the company that helps create a favourable working environment for employees, allowing them to do a better job and contribute to the group’s development.
Vượng also asked affiliates to continue raising their awareness and exerting daily efforts to prevent the pandemic.
To cope with the COVID-19, PetroVietnam and its affiliates have come up with plans to better control the pandemic while preventing production chain disruption and enhancing production effectiveness.
Despite the impacts of COVID-19, PetroVietnam has fundamentally fulfilled its set targets in the first eight months of this year.
The ongoing pandemic has dealt a major blow to the group’s major activities. Of particular note, dry natural gas consumption and supply saw a decline of 15 per cent between January and August compared to the same period last year. -- VNS