In the 50-60s of the last century, right after the North was completely liberated, President Ho Chi Minh with the strategic vision of a genius envisioned and set a goal to build a strong oil and gas industry to serve as a foundation and motivation for industrialization and economic development of the country. 

PetroVietnam leader work with Gazprom leader

In the first years of formation, the first steps of the oil and gas industry of Vietnam always had the cooperation and assistance from the Soviet friends. It could be considered as the first milestone in international cooperation relations of Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam). After the country's reunification, the Soviet Union remained one of PetroVietnam's important and close partners. The Vietnam - USSR oil and gas cooperation relationship was marked by the birth of Vietsovpetro in 1981, bringing tremendous efficiency to both countries.

After 1975, the possibility of international cooperation was opened, with the spirit of friendliness and friendship, the oil and gas industry continued to establish partnerships and cooperation with different countries mainly in the field of training. The first oil and gas technicians of Vietnam were formally trained at famous Soviet universities. In addition, famous universities of Azerbaijan, Romania, Hungary, Poland, France... also train many key technicians for the oil and gas industry. 

In 1986, the first ton of commercial oil was extracted from Bach Ho field, putting Vietnam in the list of oil and gas producing countries in the world, marking a solid step forward, affirming a promising future for the oil and gas industry of Vietnam. Since that time, entering the “innovation” period together with the whole country, the oil and gas industry has continued to expand cooperation with international oil and gas corporations and companies to develop the oil and gas industry synchronously and expand the field of activities, contributing to the country's economic development.

Oil and gas production system at Bir Seba field (Algeria)

In 2 years only (1988-1990), PetroVietnam signed 7 contracts for sharing petroleum products (PSC) with leading oil and gas companies in the world, creating opportunities for many contracts to be signed later.

In 1992, PetroVietnam signed dozens of oil and gas exploration and production contracts with international partners. The implementation of Petrovietnam's cooperation activities in oil and gas exploration and production in the period clearly showed the widely-open foreign policy of the Party and the State for extensive international economic integration and cooperation with other countries in the world on the principle of equality, respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, in the spirit of cooperation for mutual benefits. It can be said that Vietnam's oil and gas industry has played an important role in the international relations of Vietnam right from the first days of establishment. 

The cooperation between PetroVietnam and international oil and gas corporations and companies was initially limited to participating in the oil and gas exploration and production projects. Along with expanding its field of operation, PetroVietnam has cooperated with international oil and gas corporations and companies in many fields such as construction, oil and gas processing, oil and gas services, science and technology, energy.

In 1995, Vietnam's accession to ASEAN and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States opened a new period of development and cooperation between PetroVietnam and other countries in the region as well as the US oil and gas corporations and companies. It was also the period marking the rise of PetroVietnam in seeking opportunities and investing in oil and gas exploration and production abroad such as the Russian Federation, Malaysia, Algeria... besides attracting direct foreign investment in the development of activities of Vietnam Oil and Gas industry.

In September 2006, Vietnam had the first ton of crude oil exploited in Malaysia. The event was very important for Vietnam Oil and Gas industry. It marked the success of offshore investment in the field of oil and gas exploration and production of PetroVietnam. It also contributed to increasing oil and gas production of the entire industry and ensuring national energy security. 

In the period of 2006-2007, PetroVietnam completed the construction of offshore investment strategy, as well as establishing oil and gas diplomacy. The implementation of PetroVietnam's offshore investment activities in the early stages still faced many difficulties, but with high determination, timely solving of the Government and active support of ministries and branches, PetroVietnam's offshore investment is growing and achieving many successes. 

In addition, PetroVietnam has actively participated, had many presentations and researches presented at the conferences, seminars, forums on energy, oil and gas organized by countries, energy organizations, corporations, oil and gas companies around the world. After Vietnam joined ASEAN in 1995, with the consent of the Government of Vietnam, PetroVietnam has joined the ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE) since 1996. Since joining, PetroVietnam has always participated actively in ASCOPE activities through subcommittees. PetroVietnam also successfully organized ASCOPE meetings, conferences, exhibitions, ASCOPE Games. Especially, in the coming time, PetroVietnam will assume the position of ASCOPE General Secretary for the term of 2019-2024. 

It can be affirmed that PetroVietnam is a pioneer economic group in international cooperation and expansion of offshore investment. Currently, PetroVietnam is carrying out 11 petroleum contracts in 9 countries and territories. PetroVietnam has built a reputable brand domestically and internationally with a level of science and technology similar to developed countries, with a large scale and high competitiveness, and is Vietnamese enterprise with the most extensive international integration, a skilled and specialized team of scientific, technical, managerial staff and technical workers who constantly grow in both quality and quantity. 

PetroVietnam's development in particular and the oil and gas industry in general have contributed to creating positive changes for the country's economy. In the direction of the strategic vision of the Oil and Gas industry to 2035, proactive international integration is one of the main tasks and responsibilities of PetroVietnam in building and developing the Oil and Gas industry of Vietnam into the important economic and technical sector, with strong potential in finance, science and technology, high competitiveness, leading other economic sectors to develop, making important contributions to the national construction and defense.