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Gazprom may get powers to develop new offshore gas deposits in Vietnam

Russia’s major producer and exporter of natural gas, OAO Gazprom, may get the powers to develop new gas deposits

MOSCOW, November 17 (Itar-Tass) – Russia’s major producer and exporter of natural gas, OAO Gazprom, may get the powers to develop new gas deposits on the Vietnamese continental shelf together with the state-owned company PetroVietnam, Gazprom said in a report Thursday.

The report was issued after a meeting between the Russian gas giant’s CEO, Alexei Miller, and PetroVietnam Director General Do Van Hau.

The sides reviewed the guidelines for Russian-Vietnamese cooperation in the oil and gas industry and the opportunities for joint development of the new licensed blocks of deposits on the Vietnamese shelf.

Miller and Do also looked at the opportunities for building up the mineral resource potential of the Gazpromviet joint venture /operating on the territory of the Russian Federation/ and stressed the significance of joint actions as part of the Eastern Gas Program.

In September 2000, Gazprom and Petrovietnam signed an agreement for the prospecting, development, production, and sales of crude oil and natural gas from Block 112 on the Vietnamese continental shelf.

As a result of geological prospecting, the Bao Wang gas and condensate field was discovered there in 2007.

Gazprom and Petrovietnam signed an agreement in May 2008 on a further cooperation that envisions more geological prospecting at and commissioning of four new blocks with the respective numbers 129, 130, 131, and 132 on the Vietnamese shelf, as well as on setting up the Gazpromviet JV for operations in Russia and in the third countries.

The Nagumanovsky gas condensate field located in the in the Orenburg region, western Urals, was selected as the main object of the two companies’ cooperation in Russia.

In the future the JV may be engaged in projects in other licensed areas.

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