Saint Petersburg hosted the first meeting of the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) between Gazprom and the state-owned Petrovietnam Oil and Gas Group within execution of the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed by the companies.

The meeting was held by the JCC Co-Chairmen – Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Nguyen Tien Dung, Vice President of Petrovietnam.

The meeting participants appreciated the joint efforts by Gazprom and Petrovietnam on geological exploration of the Vietnamese continental shelf and highlighted good cooperation prospects for the petroleum projects delivery in Russia and in third countries.

The meeting addressed potential involvement of the Vietnamese party into the Eastern Gas Program. Gazprom was appointed by the Russian Federation Government as the Program coordinator.

In addition, attention was paid to interaction in the personnel training and development area, as well as to the sci-tech cooperation.

The meeting resulted in the assignment of appropriate tasks to the companies’ experts.

Background:

On September 11, 2000 Gazprom and Petrovietnam signed the contract that contemplated searching for, exploring, producing and marketing of hydrocarbons in block 112 offshore Vietnam. As a result of the geological exploration work performed in 2007, the Bao Wang gas and condensate field was discovered in the block.

In order to implement the contract, Gazprom and Petrovietnam established the Vietgazprom joint operating company (JOC), which is currently performing geological exploration on the continental shelf of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

In November 2006 Gazprom and Petrovietnam entered into the Agreement of Cooperation promoting, inter alia, interaction between the companies in hydrocarbons exploration, production, transportation and marketing, as well as construction and operation of oil and gas pipelines, and petroleum processing facilities.

In May 2008 Gazprom and Petrovietnam inked the Agreement for Further Cooperation. The Agreement provides for geological exploration and further development of four new blocks offshore Vietnam, as well as for incorporation of the Gazpromviet joint venture to run its business in Russia and third countries with the following shareholding structure: Gazprom – 51 per cent and Petrovietnam – 49 per cent.

In October 2008 Gazprom and Petrovietnam signed a 30-year Oil and Gas Contract for blocks 129, 130, 131, 132 on the continental shelf of the Republic of Vietnam. The document stipulates hydrocarbons exploration, development and production in these blocks. The Contract will be implemented on the production sharing terms. Vietgazprom will act as the project operator. At the geological exploration stage the project financing will be carried out by Gazprom. As part of the Contract, 2D seismic exploration and geochemical research operations were performed, the data obtained are under processing and interpretation.

On December 15, 2009 Gazprom and Petrovietnam entered into the Strategic Partnership Agreement.

Pursuant to the document, the parties will continue joint activities in the blocks of the Vietnamese continental shelf as part of the previously signed Oil and Gas Contracts and explore the possible ways of cooperation between the companies in free licensed blocks.

In addition, the Agreement provides for active interaction between Gazprom and Petrovietnam in oil and gas projects execution in Russia, Vietnam and third countries as part of the Gazpromviet joint venture being set up.