Zarubezhneft to participate in developing gas in SVietnam shelf

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11/7 Tass 58

MOSCOW, July 11 (Itar-Tass) - The Zarubezhneft Company will
participate in developing new blocks on the shelf of South Vietnam where
large deposits of gas condensate are expected.
An agreement on this work was signed on Sunday in the presence of the
general secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist
Party Nong Duc Manh.
"One of three signed documents is this agreement of intent to join
development of new blocks 05-2 and 05-3 where large deposits of gas
condensate are expected," first deputy director general of the
Zarubezhneft Viktor Gorshenev told reporters. According to the deputy
director, the sides "will get down to signing documents by the year-end,
which will fix participation of Zarubezhneft in these projects".
The company deputy head underlined that participation in developing
the new blocks will be much cheaper for Zarubezhneft, since they border
blocks 04-1 and 04-3 where the Vietsovpetro venture operates, and
Zarubezhneft is a co-founder of this venture.
Reserves of gas and gas condensate have not been estimated yet at
blocks 05-2 and 05-3, Gorshenev specified, but inferred reserves total
over 200 million tonnes of conventional fuel. Earlier, the British BP
Company had worked at this area. However, the company and its partners
left the South Vietnamese shelf late in 2009.
Now, the Russian company along with Vietnamese partners will work
there. "We suggest Vietsovpetro as an operator rather than another
company, but this question will be initially discussed by Vietnamese
partners," Gorshenev continued.
Another document, signed on Sunday in the presence of the high guest,
deals with the operation of the Rusvietpetro joint venture (this venture
was set up in July 2008 to recover oil and gas in the Nenets Autonomous
Area). This document records "an important question - a change in part of
the Charter", expanding rights and powers of directors-general of
Rusvietpetro and Vietsovpetro.
According to the new charter, the heads of the companies may
independently take decisions on financing - up to 30 million US dollars.
Besides the document includes some changes in the structure of the
Rusvietpetro joint venture.
Gorshenev noted that the venture has so far only two blocks - S-1 and
S-2. However, total expected reserves at all sections - 96 million tonnes.
"But we hope that there will be more - much more than 100 million tonnes;
this is a very promising project on the whole," Gorshenev went on to say.
In future, the company's operation will expand: "Four promising
sections are located next". A pipeline 100 kilometres long has already
been built. It is planned that following the commissioning of the first
complex, annual production will amount to 1.0-1.2 million tonnes of oil,
then - 2.5-3.0 million tonnes "with the exit to the south of the
Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area".
Apart from operation in Vietnam and Russia, the Russian-Vietnamese
Vietsovpetro venture also works in third countries - Tunisia, Cuba and
examines possibilities for operation in Algeria and Angola.
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