Prime Minister Le Minh Hung met with Mr. Tengku Muhammad Taufik, Chairman and CEO of PETRONAS, in Hanoi on October 16 morning, on the occasion of the company's delegation visiting and working in Vietnam.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister appreciated PETRONAS's contributions to oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities in Vietnam and Malaysia, especially the strong and effective cooperative relationship between the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PETROVIETNAM) and PETRONAS over the past 30 years.
According to the Prime Minister, cooperation between the two corporations has contributed to supporting the goals of energy security, sustainable development, and economic growth of Vietnam as well as the Asia region, becoming a symbol of strategic, long-term, and mutually beneficial cooperation.
The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of maintaining stability in the PM3-CAA oil and gas exploitation project in the overlapping area between Vietnam and Malaysia. This is one of the particularly successful cooperative projects, with cumulative production reaching 250 million barrels of oil and 43 billion cubic meters of gas, generating total revenue of over $25 billion.
The project currently plays a crucial role in ensuring energy security, food security, and promoting economic development in the Mekong Delta region.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung stated that the Government of Vietnam supports PETRONAS to continue researching, expanding investment, and signing new oil and gas contracts for the open blocks on Vietnam's continental shelf.
Cooperation must ensure investment efficiency, harmonize the interests of the state, enterprises, and investors, while complying with Vietnamese law and international law, the Vietnamese Government leader said.
He noted that Vietnam is continuing to amend and improve regulations related to oil and gas, electricity, investment, and land; adjusting the eighth National Power Development Plan and significantly reducing procedures and processes to facilitate the implementation of electricity and energy projects, meeting the large electricity demand to serve economic growth.
In particular, the Prime Minister highly appreciated PETRONAS's coordinating role and the active participation of the Vietnam Petroleum Technical Services Corporation (PTSC), a member of Petrovietnam, in the Vietnam-Malaysia-Singapore (VMS) power grid project.
Affirming the Vietnamese Government's support for the project, the Prime Minister emphasized that this is a symbol of regional energy connectivity cooperation, contributing to realizing the ASEAN Power Grid Vision.
Congratulating PETROVIETNAM and PETRONAS on signing the Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA), the Prime Minister assessed that the agreement marks a new development step, transitioning from project-based cooperation to a strategic alliance across the entire energy value chain, contributing to concretizing the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Malaysia.
The Prime Minister suggested that the two corporations soon put the common coordination mechanism into operation, specifying the agreement through practical and effective cooperation programs and projects.
The Vietnamese Government will continue to create favorable conditions for projects to be implemented in accordance with planning and legal regulations, the Prime Minister said, adding that he will direct ministries and agencies of Vietnam to support enterprises and investors in overcoming difficulties and obstacles that arise.
Mr. Tengku Muhammad Taufik, for his part, affirmed his company's desire to continue deepening cooperation with Petrovietnam and Vietnamese partners, especially in implementing the Strategic Alliance Agreement and the Vietnam-Malaysia-Singapore power grid project.
He said that PETRONAS also hopes to expand cooperation in supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) based on long-term contracts; coordinating with Petrovietnam and Vietnamese enterprises to develop LNG infrastructure, while promoting new energy value chains such as wind power, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage systems, and technology transfer.
These cooperation orientations aim to contribute to ensuring energy security at reasonable costs, meeting the economic growth goals of Vietnam and Malaysia, according to Mr. Tengku Muhammad Taufik.
Google translate