Vietnam to establish oil exploration fund

The fund will be established using income from state-owned oil producer Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam, the government said in a statement on its website.

PetroVietnam will set aside as much as 10 percent of its annual earnings for the fund, the statement said. The group is also assigned the task of managing the fund.

An oil exploration project can be financed by the fund only if it meets two requirements: it must be approved by the authorities and a detailed plan for the project must be passed by PetroVietnam’s management board.

Vietnam, Southeast Asia’s third-biggest oil producer, is trying to boost crude output after production fell 7 percent to 10.78 million tons in the first nine months this year. Output declined because of the aging of Bach Ho, the country’s biggest oil field which has been operating for more than two decades.

President Nguyen Minh Triet visited Moscow earlier this week and signed an agreement with Russia on crude oil exploration, according to the website.