Vietnam's Proven Oil, Gas Reserves Reach 1.25Bln Tons

Vietnam now has proven oil and gas reserves of 1.25 billion tons of oil equivalent, according the State oil and gas monopoly PetroVietnam.

 

Vietnam’s oil and gas potential is enormous, PetroVietnam’s Vice President Nguyen Dang Lieu said, adding that the total potential oil and gas reserve may reach 4.5 billion tons.

 

At present, PetroVietnam is calling for investors to take part in PetroVietnam’s projects, which are estimated to need an average US$3 billion a year for oil and gas exploration.

 

With the investment, PetroVietnam expects to raise new oil and gas reserves by 25-30 million tons of oil equivalent each year.

 

Currently, foreign investors have taken part in 57 exploration contracts worth a total US$7 billion, 26 of which are still effective, he said.

 

PetroVietnam will possibly call foreign investors in seven or so oil and gas blocks this year, Lieu said without naming the locations of the blocks. However, according to a close source, most of the offered new oil blocks are located in the deepwater Phu Khanh Basin, off Vietnam's central coast. 

 

At present, U.S. oil giant Chevron Corp, Malaysia's Petronas and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) have obtained rights to explore the Phu Khanh Basin for oil and gas.

 

PetroVietnam plans to exploit 24.79 million tons of oil equivalent in 2006, including 18 million tons of crude oil and 6.79 billion cubic meters of gas.