The Viet Nam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Gazprom have seen firm co-operation in recent years, President Nguyen Minh Triet said.

The President made the comment at a meeting with chief executive of Russia’s National Oil Corporation (Gazprom) Aleksei Miller in the capital yesterday.

Triet said he hoped PetroVietnam and Gazprom would expand co-operation in gas industry development, especially regarding their agreement to establish a joint venture for oil and gas exploration in Russia.

The President said the oil and gas sector was key to Viet Nam’s economic progress, so Gazprom had made a great contribution to the development of the country.

The Vietnamese people were grateful to the people of the former Soviet Union, both in the past and today, for the support and help they have given Viet Nam.

For his part, Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller said PetroVietnam and Gazprom had agreed to continue to co-operate in developing the oil industry, especially regarding their agreement to set up a joint venture to exploit oil and gas in Russia, Gazprom’s first venture project with a foreign partner.

He also said Gazprom would help train 30 officials and workers from PetroVietnam each year.

The same day Politburo member and Party Secretary Truong Tan Sang also met with Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller.

Sang said the Party and Government of Viet Nam always created favourable conditions for Russian investors to do business in Viet Nam.

He said he appreciated Gazprom’s potentials and co-operation with Viet Nam in oil and gas.

Miller said Gazprom would effectively implement agreements signed with PetroVietnam to continue boosting economic co-operation between the two countries, especially in the oil and gas industry.

Source: VNS