PVGas in US$1-bil. deal with three foreign firms

HCMC – Vietnam’s PVGas on Thursday clinched a US$1-billion business cooperation contract (BCC) with three major foreign firms to develop what will become the nation’s longest pipeline for transporting offshore gas to the mainland.
PVGas, a gas arm of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN), holds a 51% stake in the project while Chevron of the U.S., MOECO of Japan and PTTEP of Thailand own a combined 49%, reports the Vietnam News Agency.
The Lot B-O Mon pipeline will be nearly 400 km long, with 246 km to be laid under the sea and the remainder on land. It will pass through the Mekong Delta provinces of Can Tho, Hau Giang, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau.
Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said at the signing ceremony in Hanoi that the signing of the pipeline project was of great significance as it would pave the way for ensuring energy security and giving a much-needed boost to the delta’s development.
The project is expected to save on huge amounts of foreign currency to be spent on fuel imports, generate jobs for local people, contribute to environmental protection, stabilize power supply for the national grid, and promise a future for gas pipeline connectivity with regional nations.
The pipeline is an important part of the broader Tay Nam (southwest) gas project, so the success of its development will warrant the progress of other components.
PVN general director Phung Dinh Thuc said at the signing ceremony that when in place in 2014, the pipeline would transport natural gas from the waters off the country’s southwestern coast with an annual capacity of 18.3 million cubic meters a day, or 6.4 billion cubic meters a year. This volume of gas will be supplied for power stations in the 3,000-MW O Mon electricity generation complex in Tra Noc in Can Tho City, the integrated gas-power-urea complex in Ca Mau Province and other industrial users in the delta.