PetroVietnam to Produce 10 bcm of Gas This Year

PetroVietnam plans to produce 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas and over 17 million tons of oil by the end of this year exceeding target by 5 percent, Gazprom International said in a report published last week.

The Vietnamese firm has already produced 16.2 million tons of oil and 9.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas this year at the Hai Thach and Moc Tinh fields, the 05-2 and 05-3 blocks, which are being developed jointly with Gazprom International.

Last year Vietnam produced 16.7 million tons of oil and 9.8 billion cubic meters of gas.

Since the beginning of 2014, PetroVietnam has commissioned eight new fields, of which three — Su Tu Nau, Tho Trang and Diamond — were commissioned ahead of schedule.

The country’s natural gas reserves are estimated at approximately 1 trillion cubic meters.

Over the course of 11 months of the current year, the Vietnamese oil exports have grown by 9.4%, amounting to about 8.5 million tons. Australia, Japan, and Malaysia are the key delivery destinations.

Under a cooperation agreement between Gazprom and PetroVietnam, which provides for exploration work in several blocks of Vietnam's continental shelf, the Vietgazprom Joint Operating Company (JOC), a joint venture, was created, with the interests of Gazprom represented by Gazprom International, Gazprom's wholly-owned subsidiary and the sole operator of Gazprom’s foreign upstream projects.

The company is conducting exploration work in block No. 112, blocks No. 129-132, as well as blocks 05-2 and 05-3. Gazprom International is also a stakeholder in PVGAZPROM Natural Gas for Vehicles, a joint Vietnamese-Russian project for the production of gas-engine fuel.