PetroVietnam’s PVGas eyes 5 southern sites for first LNG terminal

State-owned PetroVietnam’s gas arm PVGas will propose five potential locations to the central government later this month for the country’s first LNG import terminal, expected to cost more than $2 billion, a senior company official said Sunday.

All the proposed locations are in the south of Vietnam. Three are along the Thi Vai river in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau; and two are in the southern province of Binh Thuan at Son My commune in Ham Tan district, and Vinh Tan commune in Tuy Phong district, PVGas general manager Do Khang Ninh told local online news service Sai Gon Times.

“The depth of the proposed sites is over 14 meters, allowing 80,000 tonne vessels to enter,” Ninh said earlier.

The final decision on the site for the terminal rests with the Vietnamese central government, which approved a gas plan for the period 2016-2025 earlier this month. The terminal would have a capacity of 3 billion to 5 billion cubic meters (106-177.5 Bcf or 2.2 million mt of LNG) in the first phase, to be built by 2015, and be expanded to 7-10 Bcm in a second phase from 2016-2025.

The LNG imported through the terminal will be supplied to industry, households and power plants, according to PVGas. Many gas-fired power plants in Vietnam’s south are currently reserving fuel, in case their gas demand cannot be met.

Likely sources of the LNG include suppliers in Australia, the Middle East and elsewhere, the company added.

In June 2010, PetroVietnam signed a memorandum of understanding with Norway’s DNV covering the development of LNG imports. Under the MOU, PVGas planned to select an aggregator to buy LNG in the spot market for three years before committing to long-term supplies.

Vietnam is expected to face a gas shortfall of nearly 1 Bcm in 2011, rising to 3 Bcm in 2020 and 7 Bcm in 2025, Ninh said in January this year.

The import terminal in the south is expected to be followed by a second in the north and a third in the central part of the country. – Platts

Tags: LNG terminal, PetroVietnam, PVGas

Posted by VBN on Apr 20 2011. Filed under Oil-Gas & Petroleum. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry