~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2001]

Petronas to help develop Vietnam's oil and gas sector

HO CHI MINH CITY - Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has submitted a proposal to PetroVietnam, the national oil corporation of Vietnam, to help develop the republic's oil and gas industry. The group has also been asked by the Vietnamese Government to prepare an updated scenario of the country's petrochemical industry, Petronas president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Merican said.

"We have assisted the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry in the development of the country's Petrochemical Master Plan four years ago. At the moment, we are updating the master plan for them," he told reporters here today. Petronas is the only foreign oil company involved in the master plan. The group, which celebrated its 10th year of smart partnership in Vietnam yesterday, is currently the third largest oil producer in Vietnam at more than 30,000 barrels a day. The group was awarded two blocks, Block 01 and 02 offshore Vung Tau, on September 9 1991, to be jointly developed with PetroVietnam under a product sharing contract.

"Vietnam is still under-explored. The Government is guiding PetroVietnam to be developed in a structured manner, similar to Petronas," he said, adding that Petronas has enough capacity to develop another block should it is given by the Vietnamese Government. "For the past 10 years, we have seen many changes in the country (Vietnam), both in its economic development as well as business expansion for the group," Mohd Hassan said. The group has to date invested US$900 million (US$1=RM3. 80) in Vietnam, which has generated more than US$720 million in revenue, according to data given by the Ministry of Industry. This year, the country has forecast a 7 per cent growth in its economy.

Therefore, disposable income will increase which translates to higher demand for petrochemical and petroleum products, he added. Petronas, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Malaysian International Trading Corporation Sdn Bhd (Mitco), will also supply 75,000 tonnes urea annually to Vietnam from its Asean Bintulu Fertiliser plant in Sarawak. An agreement between Mitco and local-based Hoang Le Commercial Ltd will be signed tomorrow, which will see the urea being used in Vietnam's agricultural industry, particularly for its rice sector.

About 80 per cent of Vietnam's economy is based on agriculture. Vietnam is also the world's third largest rice exporter today. Besides, Petronas has helped trading rice for them before, as well as other agricultural products. The same thing has been done for Myanmar and some South African countries, Mohd Hassan said. Petronas is involved in trading activities in Vietnam through Mitco and another subsidiary, Petronas Trading Corporation Sdn Bhd. Mitco was incorporated on January 28 1982, and trades mostly non-oil petroleum products such as petrochemicals, fertilisers and nitrogenous chemicals, and olefins and polymers. It also act as a trading house for general merchandise, and other non-oil commodities.

By Eirmalasare Bani - The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) - September 11, 2001.