The oil price fluctuations have had a big impact on the business performance of Vietnam’s oil and gas firms. While miners and producers have unsatisfactory business results, distributors have made make fat profits.

VietNamNet Bridge - Building large oil rigs is within Vietnam’s reach, according to Pham Tien Dung, general director of PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PV Drilling).

VietNamNet Bridge - A subsidiary of PetroVietnam, the national oil and gas group, has obtained a contract to export a well head platform (WHP) to Brunei.

A source from the Vietnam Coast Guard has confirmed that China’s HD-981 oil rig is being pulled by transport and escort vessels in the East Sea near the coast of Vietnam, Tuoi Tre Daily has reported.

 The US welcomes China's declaration on its removal of the oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 from the position near Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago to an area near China’s Hainan Island.

Safeguarding national sovereignty is a sacred mission requiring all to actively and resolutely fight every violation of the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has said.

Vietnam demands China not take its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 back or dispatch any other rigs to Vietnam’s oil and gas Block 143 or any other areas belonging to Vietnam’s waters, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Hai Binh has said.

 Chinese ships protecting the illegally-placed oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 on July 14 continued taking aggressive acts to hinder Vietnamese law enforcement ships that were operating in their national waters.

"After the oil rig event, the relations between Vietnam and China have inevitably turned to a new phase that is totally different from the previous 23-year period since the two countries normalized relations."

 Chinese marine surveillance aircraft CMS-B3808 on July 10 was seen to flight above Vietnamese law enforcement ships that are operating in the national waters, close to where drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 is illegally standing.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Nguyen Tat Thanh on July 7 wrote an article on the country’s daily Matichon, opposing the wrongful view of Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Ning Fukui on the East Sea published earlier on the same newspaper.

 Vietnamese fisheries surveillance ships on July 9 continued to approach China’s oil rig that is standing illegal in Vietnam’s waters to carry out communication works to demand China to withdraw its platform.

"With China's propaganda policy, many Chinese people believe that their government is so gentle and that China is bullied by neighboring countries," said Chu Cong Phung, former Secretary of the Vietnamese Embassy in China.

Vietnamese ships on July 5 continued encountering the harassing obstruction by a large number of Chinese vessels running to defend their drilling rig, which is illegally standing in Vietnam’s waters.

 On July 4, China maintained the presence of five battleships, 48 coast guard, 15 cargo vessels and four tugboats around drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 that has been illegally standing in Vietnam’s waters since early May.

 China on July 3 sent two more military vessels to protect its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 that is parked illegally in Vietnam’s waters, adding up to seven ships of this kind, according to the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department.

 China on July 1 dispatched 34 fishing vessels backed by two coast guard ships to hamper Vietnamese fishing boats from approaching the area where the oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 is illegally standing.

 China is continuing its intimidation and violations, slandering and blaming Vietnam. All what it is doing are totally different from what it is saying.

 China keeps five military ships to defend its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou – 981 which is illegally standing in Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, reported the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance Department on June 30.