Kuwait Petroleum, PetroVietnam Plan to Expand Cooperation

KUWAIT 22/09/2009 — Kuwait Petroleum International and Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, which are building Vietnam’s second oil refinery, plan to expand cooperation in exploring for crude and trading fuel, the Vietnamese state-owned company said on Monday.

Kuwait Oil Minister Shaikh Ahmed Al Abdullah Al Sabah will meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and President Nguyen Minh Triet in Hanoi on Monday during a six-day visit to the Southeast Asian country.

Earlier, he held talks with Vietnam Oil & Gas, known as PetroVietnam, “to discuss possibilities to boost cooperation,” PetroVietnam said in an e-mailed statement. Vietnam last year started building its second oil refinery at Nghi Son in the northern Thanh Hoa province. Kuwait Petroleum, which has a 35.1 per cent stake in the $6 billion refinery, is expected to provide crude for the plant, according to PetroVietnam, which holds 25.1 per cent. The remaining stakes are held by two Japanese companies, Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Mitsui 
Chemicals Inc.

“PetroVietnam is willing to work with Kuwaiti partners in areas including oil exploration, processing and trading in petroleum products, as well as power generation,” PetroVietnam Chairman Dinh La Thang said in the statement.