Vietnam Says to Sign $1.5 Billion Gas Contract With BP, Statoil This Year
Singapore, Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Vietnam said it expects to
sign an agreement by the end of this year with BP Amoco Plc and
Statoil AS for a $1.5 billion pipeline to pump natural gas from a
field off Vietnam's coast.
The project will be Vietnam's single largest foreign
investment and help the country tap gas discovered off its coast
to run power plants, said Vu Huy Hoang, vice minister of the
Ministry of Planning and Investment.
``We hope to sign the agreement by the end of this year,'
said the vice minister. BP Amoco will own 24 percent of the
proposed company, Statoil will own 30 percent and PetroVietnam,
Vietnam's state-owned energy company, the rest, he said.
Vietnam is courting foreign investment to boost its economic
potential in energy and other industries as it strives to recover
from Southeast Asia's recession.
Unocal Corp., a California-based oil and gas producer, said
it signed a contract with Vietnam's leading energy company to
explore and share output from a gas field, its third such
contract in Vietnam.
The signing of the pipeline contract has been delayed as
Vietnam lost one of its biggest prospective customers after
Thailand canceled a plan to buy piped natural gas from Vietnam.
``Thailand won't buy anymore from Vietnam, they said they
have enough,' said Vu.
quote.bloomberg.com
____________________________________________
Vietnam initials gas pipeline deal
HANOI, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Vietnam and an alliance of BP Amoco (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BPA.L) and Norway's Statoil [STAT.CN] have initialled a contract to build a $400 million gas pipeline as part of a key energy development, a source close to the deal said on Tuesday.
The source said the Business Cooperation Contract (BCC) was initialled on Monday. Under the agreement, Vietnam oil monopoly Petrovietnam has 51 percent equity in the pipeline and BP Amoco and Statoil the rest.
The 390 km (244 mile) pipeline forms part of the long-delayed $1.5 billion Nam Con Son integrated gas project, which aims to tap proven gas reserves of 58 billion cubic metres off Vietnam's southern coast.
The Nam Con Son basin itself will be exploited by a consortium of Petrovietnam, BP Amoco, Statoil and India's ONGC Videsh Ltd .
``Yesterday, the BCC for the pipeline was initialled, which is another step forward. We have not formally signed anything,' the source told Reuters. ``We have still yet to reach final agreements on other outstanding issues.'
Officials hope to have final agreements on the overall project, which includes a combined power and fertiliser plant, in place by the year-end. Those agreements should include an investment licence for the pipeline.
The gas to be extracted lies in Block 06.1 in the Lan Tay and Lan Do fields and was first discovered in 1993.
biz.yahoo.com |
