Replies to post #894 on Vietnam Currency Discussion Board

[RICK C]

THIS IS OLD NEWS -BUT very interesting.
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Thanh Nien
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Last Updated: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 11:44:03 Vietnam (GMT+07)
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Gov’t approves over US$80 mil to drill for oil


The Vietnamese government has approved an US$82.5 million plan to exploit the Phuong Dong oil field in waters off the coast of southern Vietnam.
Under a production sharing contract, the state’s oil and gas giant PetroVietnam will hold a 17.5 percent interest in the Phuong Dong drilling, 150 km southeast of Vung Tau City. Japan-Vietnam Petroleum Co. Ltd. (JVPC) will hold a 46.5 percent interest in the project while ConocoPhillips will take on 36 percent.

Under the decision approved Monday by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung, most of the capital will be spent on a drilling platform and a pipeline system to transport oil and gas from the field to a central platform at the Rang Dong oil field.

Commercial production at Phuong Dong is expected to begin in the end of the third quarter next year.

According to JVPC appraisals, Phuong Dong is home to an estimated 36.2 million barrels of oil and 3.16 billion cu.m of natural gas.

JVPC is a joint venture of Mitsubishi (51 percent) and the Japan National Oil Corporation (49 percent).

In related development, PetroVietnam yesterday launched a new arm, PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corp (PVEP).

The VND10 trillion (US$625 million) PVEP is a merger of PetroVietnam’s Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Company and the PetroVietnam Oil & Gas Investment and Development Company.

Between January and April this year, crude oil – Vietnam’s top export item – earned $2.36 billion, the country’s highest export turnover. Though the figure was a slight year-on-year drop in both volume and value, analysts attributed the dip to declining global prices.

Reported by M.Q. – Compiled by Dong Ha