Vietnam will create more favorable conditions for Jadestone Energy in its current operations in the country and support its investment expansion, the Government Portal reported, quoting Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung at at a meeting with President and CEO Paul Blakeley of US company Jadestone Energy in Hanoi on Tuesday.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung and President and CEO Paul Blakeley of US company Jadestone Energy in Hanoi. Photo: VGP

Deputy PM Dung said Vietnam encourages foreign investors to cooperate with Vietnamese partners or develop by their own oil and gas projects to help Vietnam ensure its energy security.

Dung highly appreciated Jadestone Energy’s investment expansion in Vietnam and asked the company to work with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) to soon complete investment procedures.

Vietnam’s preferential investment policies and improved business environment have encouraged international investors, including Jadestone, to make long-term investment in the country, Paul Blakeley said at the meeting.

Jadestone Energy wants to expand investment by promoting oil exploration and exploitation as well as cooperating with partners to develop onshore and offshore projects on Vietnam’s continental shelf.

Jadestone Energy has a portfolio of development assets in Vietnam including working interests in eight projects both on and off Vietnam’s shore. Four of them are production sharing contracts (PSCs) namely Blocks 05-1b & 05-1c, Block 51, Block 46/07, and Block 127, the company said on its website.

Vietnam has encouraged foreign partners to join oil operations in its maritime waters.

Meanwhile, China’s operations, including entering Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone, increase the costs and risks for its neighbors namely Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines to operate within their exclusive economic zones irrationally claimed by China through the nine dash lines, according to Washington-based non-profit organization Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The Pentagon said Chinese actions to coerce ASEAN neighbors, station offensive military systems, and enforce an unlawful maritime claim raise serious doubts over China’s credibility. It noted that “The United States will continue to support efforts by our allies and partners to ensure freedom of navigation and economic opportunity throughout the entire Indo-Pacific.”