Kuwait and Vietnam have extended cooperation in the oil and gas industry during high-level talks held in Hanoi with plans for a new exploration and production (E&P) contract.

Speaking to Kuwait News Agency, oil minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah declared that the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploitation Company (KUFPEC) is set be awarded a new licence for Block 51 off the south-west coast of Vietnam by the end of the year.

The contract will build on a series of accords and agreements struck by the two countries this week, with fields of cooperation covering petroleum processing, agriculture, trade and training and development.

Kuwait and Vietnam will be working with Japan to build the $6 billion (£3.7 billion) Nghi Son Petrochemical Refinery Complex, to be situated around 200 km south of Hanoi.

On Monday (September 21st), Sheikh Ahmad told the news agency that the two sides had cemented details of a training and development programme that will offer scholarships to Vietnamese students to enrol in petroleum engineering courses in Kuwait.

Getenergy event for GCC countries November 2009