Russia's Gazprom to sign deal with Petrovietnam

HANOI, Nov 20: Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom and state-run Petrovietnam signed an agreement on Monday to produce natural gas in the Southeast Asian nation for possible export.

Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said the agreement ''included working on the possibility of creating a gas infrastructure in Vietnam which is still in embryonic shape.'' Asked about potential customers, he told reporters: ''This could be for the Vietnamese market as well as third countries.'' Kupriyanov gave no further details.

Russia is the world's biggest natural gas producer and it sees China, Japan and South Korea as vital future markets.

Gazprom has said that it plans to supply China and South Korea with pipeline gas. It also plans to sign a deal on a pipeline to China this year and may swap Chinese liquefied natural gas imports for Russian pipeline gas.

Several foreign firms are already producing gas off Vietnam's southern coast, including Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) and oil major BP Plc. BP is the operator of Vietnam's only gas pipeline and sells to state oil monopoly Petrovietnam.

Gazprom is still focused on exploration activities off the coast of Vietnam, Kupriyanov said.

''There are some results, but it's too early to speak about them,'' he said.

Gazprom executives are accompanying Russian President Vladimir Putin who attended an Asia-Pacific summit in Hanoi last weekend.

REUTERS