U.S. firm wins oil deal

U.S. firm wins oil deal

HANOI (AFP): U.S.-based Vietnam American Exploration Co.
(Vamex) has signed a production sharing contract to explore
offshore oil with PetroVietnam, the company said Tuesday.

The 30-year contract covers exploration and production of two
blocks covering 6,874 square kilometers (2,750 square miles)
lying 350 kilometers (217 miles) southeast of Vietnam, said a
Vamex release.

The blocks are adjacent to an offshore gas field operated by
BP Amoco, Statoil and Oil and Natural Gas Corp. of India with
PetroVietnam that has two trillion cubic feet (60 billion cubic
metres) of gas reserves.

However, Vamex president Melvin Jackson said the blocks
overlap waters claimed by Indonesia, so sea boundary claims
needed to be resolved before exploration could proceed.

"We are not going start exploration until Petrovietnam and the
government of Vietnam resolve the issues with Indonesia," he told
AFP.