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.
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