Citing Tran Duc Chinh, PetroVietnam’s Acting GM Exploration, the report stated, “An area known as the Phu Khanh Basin may contain the equivalent of 5.4 billion barrels of oil, or 16 percent of the 33.6 billion estimated to lie in Vietnam’s continental shelf.”

While Tran did not elaborate further, his statement comes on the back of the declaration by PetroVietnam CEO Tran Ngoc Canh last where he declared, “Nine blocks are at an early exploration stage.”