HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam Oil & Gas Group (PetroVietnam or PVN) will head the ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE) secretariat for the first time.

The group will be the secretariat of the council from now until 2024 after the position was handed over from Thai oil and gas company PTT at a council meeting yesterday in Hà Nội.

“It is a milestone for Việt Nam since it joined the council in 1996," Trần Hồng Nam, member of the board of Directors, PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP), told Việt Nam News.

“It is a good opportunity for Việt Nam to benefit from the council thanks to its network of experienced oil and gas enterprises in the region," said Nam, who will serve as the council's secretary-in-charge.

Nam said Việt Nam could learn the experience from both the well developed countries with oil and gas industry and the newcomers in the field.

“There are both challenges and opportunities for the industry in ASEAN, which consumes and produces a large amount of oil and gas products, in the context of growing complicated climate change and the technology era," he added.

Hosted by PetroVietnam in the capital, the 45th Council Meeting took place in Hà Nội from November 27 to December 1 with the theme 'Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Development'.

At the meeting, participants discussed the plan of the subcommittee in promoting the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), updated each other on oil and gas projects in recent years, and shared experience on developing LNG markets, among others.

Established in 1975, ASCOPE aims to promote collaboration in the development of the petroleum resources in the region through joint endeavours.

It consists of national petroleum companies/national entities responsible for oil and gas in the 10 ASEAN member countries.— VNS