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Big domestic energy groups hook up
The country’s National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Hanoi on July 28.
Under the agreement, both parties are committed to working closer with each other in their respective fields, particularly in energy. They agreed to exchange and share geological information about any coalfields that are discovered during exploration for oil in the Red River delta.
They will also cooperate in building an ammonium nitrate plant using gas provided by PetroVietnam to serve Vinacomin’s mining operations, as well as in developing infrastructure projects and also in real estate and finance.
On addressing the signing ceremony, PetroVietnam’s General Director Phung Dinh Thuc said that cooperation between the two groups would help boost and secure the country’s energy industry.
He said that both groups would soon start a number of important projects to research coal and gas reserves in the Red River delta basin, invest in mining for coal overseas and set up a joint stock company to import and ship coal from abroad to Vietnam to supply domestic thermal power plants.
Vinacomin’s Chairman Doan Van Kien said a recent study put the Red River Delta basin’s coal reserves at 210 billion tonnes.
The coal reserves that span from the continental shelf to the Nam Con Son oil field could yield thousands of billions of tonnes, he added.
The alliance between these two giants in natural minerals exploration and exploitation will bring huge benefits to both groups as well as the country, said Kien.
At present, coal supplies for domestic thermal power plants are now an issue of concern as Vinacomin forecasts Vietnam will have to import coal from 2012.
vov, vietnamplus
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