A delegation from the state-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the Russian Ministry of Energy has met in Moscow and pledged to boost bilateral cooperation in oil and gas exploitation, Vietnam News Agency reported.
Nguyen Xuan Son, a senior official at PetroVietnam, led the delegation to Russia on September 2-3 to meet with leaders from the Ministry of Energy.
The ministry is willing to support oil and gas joint-ventures with Vietnam in the spirit of mutual prosperity, said Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Yuri Sentiurin during a meeting with Son.
For his part, Son thanked the Russian government for its support of the GazpromViet and RusVietPetro joint-ventures and proposed that the ministry continue to create favorable conditions for the companies' effective operations.
He affirmed that PetroVietnam is ready to invest in oil and gas projects in Russia, adding that Vietnam wants to act as a bridge for Russian oil firms seeking to tap the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market.
Son said he hopes that bilateral cooperation in oil and gas will continue to grow and contribute to tightening the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership as well as beefing up their oil and gas sectors.
While in Russia, Son also met with chairmen of Russia's leading oil and gas groups--Gazprom, Rosneft and Zaruberhneft.
During the meetings, the two sides discussed measures to boost cooperation and enhance the efficiency of existing joint ventures. They also discussed the planned sale of 49 percent of the shares in Vietnam’s Dung Quat Oil Refinery by Gazprom Neft--a Gazprom subsidiary.
According to a deal recently struck by directors of the two groups, Gazprom Neft will also participate in a project to upgrade and expand the Dung Quat refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai, which aims to increase the plant's production capacity to around 10 million tons per year.
In addition, PetroVietnam and Rosneft have agreed to set up a joint venture to explore and exploit two oil fields in Russia’s Pechora waters.
Source: Thanh Nien News
