Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 2, 1994                   TAG: 9408020095
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM                                 LENGTH: Medium

VIETNAM'S NEWEST BOOM: OIL

``Where? How much? What depth? What flow rate?''

That strike by a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Oil Co., coupled with the Vietnam government's announcement last week that other companies will soon disclose at least four more oil and gas strikes, is reigniting excitement in an industry that could have more impact than any other on the future prosperity of such a poor country.

``There's been nothing else this significant,'' said Le Ngoc Quang, a Vietnamese-American who is vice president of Mobil Vietnam. ``It's a shot in the arm.''

But energy is also the sector of the economy most likely to become a flash point - the spark for a military conflict between Vietnam and neighboring China.

Both countries claim some of the same unexplored tracts in the South China Sea, including a potentially oil-rich tract that China awarded to a small Denver-based company, Crestone, two years ago when a U.S. trade embargo still prevented American companies from signing contracts with Vietnam.

That tract sits on Vietnam's continental shelf, 174 miles off the country's southern coast near the Spratly Islands. Now, with new strikes whetting industry appetites for exploration, Vietnam's government is vocally reiterating its territorial rights.

But Western oil companies are willing to risk becoming caught in the middle because Vietnam is one of the world's last unexplored areas still open for bidding. Along with Mobil, Arco, Unocal and Texaco are also exploring the market and potential bids.