Pertamina, Petrovietnam cooperate in oil sector

Pertamina, Petrovietnam cooperate in oil sector

JAKARTA (JP): State oil and gas company Pertamina signed a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Friday with Vietnam state-
owned oil and gas company Petrovietnam to cooperate in oil and
gas exploration and production.

Pertamina's upstream director Gatot K. Wiroyudo said the MOU
paved the way for Pertamina to enter Vietnam's oil and gas
upstream sector and was in line with Pertamina's efforts to boost
its oil and gas reserves.

The MOU was signed by Gatot and vice president of Petrovietnam
Tranc Canch.

Under the MOU, Pertamina will obtain rights to develop
Vietnam's oil and gas resources, while Petrovietnam's subsidiary
Petroleum Investment and Development Company will be given
similar rights in Indonesia.

Gatot said Pertamina will invest $2.5 million over the next
four years to conduct exploration for oil in Block 17 and several
other offshore blocks in South Vietnam. The budget includes
$500,000 for the geological study and $2 million for
explorations.

"The geological study will be carried out for three to six
months starting next week," Gatot said.

He said the blocks were "prospective", but he did not specify.

In Indonesia, Gatot said, Petrovietnam will be offered an
operating area owned by Pertamina in the oil and gas rich
province of Irian Jaya.

Gatot said Pertamina and Petrovietnam had yet to finalize
discussions on terms regarding production sharing in the areas to
be developed by the companies.

According to Gatot, Pertamina had allocated Rp 5 trillion
(about US$500 million) for exploration and production activities
as part of its efforts to increase its oil and gas reserves to
633.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) this year from
509.9 MMBOE last year. (05)