Vietnam backs expanded PETRONAS investment in oil and gas sector

Receiving Tengku Muhammad Taufik, President and Group Chief Executive Officer of PETRONAS, Malaysia’s leading national oil and gas company, in Hanoi on October 16, Prime Minister Hung acknowledged the company’s contributions to oil and gas exploration and production in both Vietnam and Malaysia.

He praised the longstanding partnership between PETRONAS and Vietnam National Industry – Energy Group (Petrovietnam), which has spanned more than 30 years. Through their joint efforts, the two companies have supported energy security, sustainable development and economic growth in Vietnam and across Asia, establishing a trusted partnership built on strategic cooperation and shared benefits.

Vietnam backs expanded oil and gas cooperation with PETRONAS

The Prime Minister also underscored the importance of maintaining stable operations at the PM3-CAA oil and gas project in the overlapping area between Vietnam and Malaysia. With cumulative production reaching 250 million barrels of oil and 43 billion cubic metres of gas, and total revenue exceeding US$25 billion, the project has played a significant role in ensuring energy security, supporting food security and promoting economic development in Vietnam’s southwestern region.

Noting that cooperation between the two companies has also featured in discussions with the Malaysian Prime Minister, the Vietnamese Prime Minister reiterated the Government’s support for PETRONAS to explore further investment opportunities and sign new petroleum contracts for open blocks on Vietnam’s continental shelf. Such cooperation, he said, should ensure investment efficiency, balance the interests of the State, businesses and investors, and comply with Vietnamese law and international law.

According to the Prime Minister, Vietnam is continuing to refine regulations governing the oil and gas and electricity sectors, as well as investment and land, while adjusting its Eighth National Power Development Plan. The Government is also working to streamline administrative procedures to facilitate electricity and energy projects and meet the substantial power demand associated with economic growth.

Strategic alliance opens up wider energy cooperation

He welcomed PETRONAS’s coordinating role and the active participation of Petrovietnam subsidiary PTSC in the Vietnam–Malaysia–Singapore (VMS) power interconnection project. He affirmed the Government’s support for the initiative as a symbol of regional energy connectivity and a contribution to realising the ASEAN Power Grid vision.

The Prime Minister also congratulated PETRONAS and Petrovietnam on signing a strategic alliance agreement (SAA), which elevates their cooperation from individual projects to a strategic alliance spanning the energy value chain. The agreement is expected to help translate the Vietnam–Malaysia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership into practical cooperation.

He urged both companies to put their joint coordination mechanism into operation soon and turn the agreement into concrete, effective projects and programmes.

The Government of Vietnam will continue to facilitate projects that comply with national plans and legal regulations, while directing ministries and agencies to support businesses and investors in resolving difficulties arising during implementation, the Prime Minister told his guest.

He expressed his hope that cooperation between PETRONAS and Petrovietnam would continue to grow and serve as a successful example of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and Malaysia.

For his part, Tengku Muhammad Taufik thanked the Government’s support for PETRONAS’s cooperation and projects in Vietnam, saying the company has achieved effective cooperation with Vietnamese ministries and agencies and Petrovietnam, with promising prospects for further collaboration.

PETRONAS aims to deepen these ties and work with Petrovietnam and other Vietnamese partners to advance their shared vision, particularly through the strategic alliance agreement and the VMS power interconnection project, he assured his host.

Such cooperation would help ensure energy security at affordable costs and support the economic growth objectives of both countries, in line with the directions set by the two prime ministers and the shared priorities of their governments, he said.

The PETRONAS leader also expressed the company’s interest in expanding cooperation with Vietnam on long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts. He proposed working with Petrovietnam and other Vietnamese businesses to develop LNG infrastructure in Vietnam and new energy value chains, including wind power, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, as well as technology transfer.

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