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(Adds comments from PetroVietnam on possible BP asset sale, background on BP operations) By Vu Trong Khanh Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES DALAT, Vietnam (Dow Jones)--There have been no talks between BP PLC (BP) and Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PetroVietnam, on the sale of BP's assets in Vietnam, an executive of the state-run company said Wednesday. BP said Tuesday it has agreed to sell assets in the U.S., Canada and Egypt to Apache Corp. (APA) for a total of $7 billion, and that it planned to sell its gas fields and a pipeline in Vietnam, as well as exploration licenses in Pakistan. "BP and PetroVietnam have equal shares in these assets," Nguyen Tien Dung, deputy director of PetroVietnam, told Dow Jones Newswires, adding that it wasn't clear whether PetroVietnam would take over the assets. Another senior PetroVietnam official, who didn't want to be named, said, "I don't think that BP can sell its assets immediately after it said that it would do so. There should be discussions and an agreement between us before the sale can be done." "BP's plan to sell its assets in Vietnam will not affect the operations of our gas-fired power plants," the official added. BP has been active in Vietnam for more than 20 years. In the early 1990s it discovered four major gas fields 320 kilometers offshore south of Ho Chi Minh City, and this resulted in the $1.3 billion Nam Con Son Gas project to exploit the reserves. The operation involved the development of the Lan Tay and Lan Do fields, the laying of a two-phase offshore pipeline, said by BP to be longest of its kind in the world, and the construction of the 720-megawatt Phu My 3 Power Plant in Ba Ria Vung Tau province. BP also produces and distributes lubricants in the country, and has a contract to supply crude to Dung Quat, Vietnam's first refinery. The company will start delivering crude to the refinery from next month, an official with the plant said Wednesday. It will supply 1 million metric tons of crude to the 130,000-barrel-a-day refinery this year, the official added. "The oil spill (in the Gulf of Mexico) hasn't had any negative impact on BP's plan to supply crude to our refinery." PetroVietnam is also Vietnam's second-largest power producer by output, with a total generation capacity of 2,000 MW, second only to Vietnam Electricity Group. BP's major partners in Vietnam include PetroVietnam, ConocoPhillips (COP), India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (500312.BY) and Singapore's Sembcorp, according to BP's website. -By Vu Trong Khanh, Dow Jones Newswires; +84 4 35123042; trong-khanh.vu@dowjones.com (Simon Hall in Beijing contributed to this article.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 21, 2010 04:36 ET (08:36 GMT)