UPDATE 1-Petrovietnam signs oil deal for operation in Peru

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HANOI, April 20 (Reuters) - Petrovietnam's exploration arm PVEP said it had signed a contract with Perupetro SA to explore oil and gas in Peru as part of a plan to increase oil reserves to ensure national energy security.

The contract awarded to unlisted PVEP via a tender last September envisaged the Vietnamese firm taking on a 30-month exploration in Block 162 in the Latin American country's Ucayali basin, the Vietnamese firm said in a statement on Monday.

Should the exploration prove successful, oil exploitation would last 30 years while gas tapping would last 40 years, PVEP said of its second contract in Peru. It has been executing a contract signed in 2007 to tap oil and gas in Block Z-47 off Peru.

The contract signing last Thursday in Lima "was aimed at increasing oil and gas reserves as well as output to contribute to ensuring the national energy security," PVEP statement said.

Earlier on Monday, PVEP said its venture with Malaysia's Petronas [PETR.UL] had found the largest natural gas field off Vietnam's northern coast. [ID:nHAN465547] (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh)