Vietnam signs oil deal

Vietnam signs oil deal

HANOI (AFP): State-owned PetroVietnam has signed a deal to explore for oil and gas off the country's southern coast with a consortium of American and Canadian corporations, the official Vietnam News daily reported Saturday.

Under the contract signed on Friday by PetroVietnam, American OPECO International Inc. and Canadian Petroleum Vietnam Ltd., the three companies will explore an oil field in the South Con Son area off Vietnam's coast.

The oilfield, located about 300 kilometers (186 miles) off the southern oil hub of Vung Tau is believed to have large deposits of crude oil and natural gas.

PetroVietnam has recently begun commercial exploitation of Vietnam's fourth oilfield, the Bunga Kekwa oilfield located off its southern continental shelf with Malaysian firm Petronas, Britain's International Petroleum Company and Sweden's Sands Petroleum.