India-based ONGC Videsh has agreed to participate in the exploration of oil and gas offshore Vietnam.
ONGC Videsh signed a letter of intent (LOI) with PetroVietnam as part of the plans.
Under the LOI, ONGC Videsh will expand its exploration activities in Vietnam by considering its participation in two or three additional blocks.
The transaction is subject to technical and commercial viability and requisite approvals.
The LOI provides PetroVietnam with an option to consider participating in several of ONGC Videsh’s exploration blocks.
ONGC Videsh entered the Vietnam market in 1988 after securing the exploration license for Block 06.1.
The company also secured two exploration blocks, Block 127 and Block 128, in 2006.
Block 127 was relinquished after finishing the work programme and Block 128 is presently under exploration.
ONGC Videsh and PetroVietnam have been engaged in additional negotiations for the potential expansion of cooperation in Vietnam’s hydrocarbon sector.
ONGC Videsh has participated in 35 projects in 16 countries including Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela.
The company is currently producing around 160,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day and has total oil and gas reserves of 637 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mmtoe), as of 31 March this year.
