Russia, Vietnam sign energy agreements

HANOI, Vietnam, April 6 (UPI) -- As the Asian pivot continues, Russian oil company Gazprom Neft said Monday it signed deals with its counterparts at PetroVietnam.

Documents signed in Hanoi in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, envision bilateral oil and gas development in the northern Russian waters of Pechora Sea.

"By the end of October, the parties will form a list of priority oil and gas fields and agree the basic terms of the partnership before further agreements are signed," the Russian company said in a statement. "The projects will be implemented via joint ventures of Gazprom Neft and PetroVietnam, in which the stakes of each party will be negotiated."

Both sides also laid out terms for the Gazprom Neft acquisition in a 49 percent share of the Dung Quat refinery in Vietnam, which refines about 48 million barrels of oil per year. Financial terms of any formal deals between the two companies weren't disclosed. The Russian prime minister said during the weekend the deals would be in place in time for bilateral operations to begin next year.

The agreements come as Russian energy interests align more closely with those of Asian economies looking to take on more oil and natural gas. Medvedev confirmed the government's interests Sunday.

"In recent years, we have largely reoriented our policies towards active cooperation with the Asia-Pacific countries," he said.