Petrovietnam eyes energy transition cooperation with Norway’s Equinor

State-owned oil and gas giant Petrovietnam and Norway's largest energy group Equinor have discussed cooperation in energy transition.

State-owned oil and gas giant Petrovietnam and Norway's largest energy group Equinor have discussed cooperation in energy transition.

The discussions took place during a September visit to the UK and Norway by a Petrovietnam delegation led by Pham Tuan Anh, a member of the board of directors, the group reported Thursday.

During a working session at Equinor headquarters in Stavanger, Norway, Anh lauded Equinor’s achievements since its establishment as a national oil-gas company. He also highlighted Petrovietnam’s strengths in building renewable energy facilities as contractor, including wind power mills.

Anh said Petrovietnam and its technical arm PTSC were willing to expand cooperation with Equinor to more sectors. The Vietnamese group was willing to extend an agreement signed with Equinor in 2021 on studying offshore renewable energy generation, he added.

The two sides discussed ways to strengthen cooperation and exchanged experiences in green hydrogen, green ammonia, carbon capture and storage as well as offshore renewable energy.

A Petrovietnam delegation visits energy giant Equinor's headquarters in Norway, September 2023. Photo courtesy of Petrovietnam.

At another working session held at Equinor’s offshore wind power operations center in Newcastle, the UK, the two sides discussed challenges related to policies, capital and technology in the deployment of offshore wind power.

The Vietnamese delegation visited Equinor’s Dogger Bank offshore wind power project with a designed capacity of 3.6 GW that can power up six million households. The project is under construction

Equinor recently appointed Jacques-Etienne Michel as its country manager for Vietnam. Michel had worked as Equinor's country manager for South Korea and Australia earlier. The Vietnam office will focus on building a strong offshore wind power presence, the Norwegian firm said.