RusEnergy

29 September, 2008 - Upstream OnLine - State oil monopoly Petrovietnam is seeking government approval to invest $614 milllion in an oil joint venture with Russian oil company Zarubezhneft to tap crude oil in Russia's Nenets region, a state-run newspaper reported. The Ministry of Planning and Investment-run Vietnam Investment Review weekly quoted the ministry as saying Petrovietnam would have a 49% stake in the $1.25 billion joint venture which would explore four oil blocks in Nenets, reported Reuters. The project, which would have a life span of 25 years, is expected to start producing oil in 2011 and peak at 6.4 million tonnes of crude oil per year by 2020, the report said. The four fields are estimated to hold up to 80 million tonnes of crude oil. Petrovietnam and Zarubezhneft already operate a joint venture in Vietnam called Vietsovpetro which produces oil from Bach Ho, the country's biggest field, with production averaging more than 150,000 barrels per day. Petrovietnam has been stepping up efforts to acquire oil and gas assets overseas including projects in Laos, Iran, Iraq, Mongolia, Tunisia and Algeria as it moves to raise oil production.