VN, Venezuela sign on oil, gas

Viet Nam and Venezuela have expanded co-operation in oil and gas after signing a raft of agreements in the sector.

The agreements were signed in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday by Chairman of the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) Dinh La Thang and Venezuelan Minister for Energy and Petroleum and President of the Venezuelan State Oil Company PDVSA Rafael Ramirez.

The two leaders formalised PDVSA's involvement in expanding the Dung Quat Oil Refinery in Viet Nam by refining 100,000 barrels of oil per day taken from the Junin 2 bloc of Venezuela 's Orinoco Oil Belt, the world's largest oil reserve.

They also assessed the possibility of joint venture Petromacareo to begin tapping the Junin 2 oil field six months ahead of schedule.

Petromacareo is scheduled to tap the Junin 2 field from the third quarter of 2012 with a daily capacity of 50,000 barrels, which is expected to be quadrupled after two years. The two leaders discussed three potential co-operation agreements, including PetroVietnam's assistance to PDVSA in product distribution in Asia.

PetroVietnam is a strategic partner and one of the first companies co-operating with PDVSA in projects to develop the Orinoco Oil Belt, PDVSA says on its website.

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