The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) has denied reports that it plans to invest 1.2 billion USD in the Darkhovin oil and gas project in southwestern Iran.

PetroVietnam Deputy General Director Nguyen Quoc Thap has made this statement saying that domestic and foreign press’s recent reports on the issue are not accurate .

According to Thap, a year ago, Iran 's Petroleum Engineering and Development Company offered some development projects, including Darkhovin, to the PetroVietnam Exploration Production (PVEP), a member of PetroVietnam. However, PVEP has yet to respond to the offer.

In fact, PVEP and its Iran partner have not yet reached any agreement on the Darkhovin project, he said, adding that the Darkhovin oilfield was discovered in 1965 with total reserves of about 5 billion barrels of crude oil.

PetroVietnam is currently investing in several overseas projects, including the Nhenhetsky project in Russia and the block PM304 and block SK305 projects in Malaysia./.