Vietnamese Ambassador to Algeria Do Trong Cuong presented the Friendship Order to leaders of the Algerian State-owned Sonatrach Petroleum Corporation at a ceremony in the Algerian capital city of Algiers on Oct. 6.

The award is to honour Sahnoun Said, Deputy General Director of Sonatrach and Chiki Kamel Edine, Director of Sonatrach joint-venture management board for their contributions to the development of Vietnamese oil and gas sector.

In 2002, the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) joined a contract to survey and exploit Bir Seba oil field in the Algerian southern region of Touggourt in the Sahara desert.

The contract’s partners include PetroVietnam’s Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP) with a 40 percent stake, Petroleum Authority of Thailand, with 35 percent and Sonatrach, 25 percent.

PVEP expects to welcome the first flow of oil from Bir Seba oil field by the third quarter of 2013 with a capacity of 20,000 barrels per day, and between 36,000 and 40,000 barrels per day by 2016.

In their position, Sahnoun Said and Chiki Kamel Edine helped accelerate the contract approval and the oil survey and exploration work./.