Vietnam Readies for First LNG Cargo Next Week

Viet · Jul 8, 2023

Đoàn đã đi thăm công trường khu vực bồn chứa LNG

Courtesy of PetroVietnam Gas

Vietnam is set to import its debut LNG cargo next week as the emerging market eyes more import terminals to meet growing demand from its gas-starved power sector.

The commissioning cargo is loaded on Maran Gas Achilles, chartered by Shell, which is approaching Vietnam and due to arrive at PV Gas' Thi Vai terminal on Jul.10, according to Kpler shiptracking data. The cargo is sourced from Pertamina’s Bontang LNG plant in Indonesia.

Shell was selected by PV Gas in May to deliver the commissioning cargo for the latter’s 1 million ton per year Thi Vai terminal at Ba Rai-Vung Tau province in the south.

Vietnam is one of a few new LNG markets which are slated to open in Asia this year. The other two markets are Philippines and Hong Kong which received their first cargoes earlier this year.

PV Gas said the imported LNG would be distributed to customers via existing gas pipelines or trucks to distant customers.

PV Gas, Sole Importer
PV Gas is so far the first and only firm which has received a certificate to import and export LNG.

The firm is not known to have committed to any LNG term contracts yet, although it has been engaging LNG suppliers. Earlier this week, PV Gas said it has chaired separate meetings with Novatek and Exxon Mobil to explore business opportunities in the LNG sector.

PV Gas plans to expand the Thi Vai terminal to 3 million tons/yr, although a time line was not provided.

It is also expected to develop the Son My LNG terminal jointly with US firm AES in the southern Binh Thuan province. The terminal would feed two new gas-fired power plants — AES’ 2.2 gigawatt Son My 2 power project and EDF's 2.25 GW Son My 1 power project, which also involves Japanese firms Sojitz and Kyushu Electric.

LNG Suppliers Eye Vietnam
LNG suppliers have been circling around the fast-growing Vietnamese market, whose government recently gave LNG a cautious stamp of approval with the release of the eighth power development plan (PDP-8) in May after more than two years of delays.

The new power roadmap sees LNG imports as needed to feed a greater share of gas in the country’s total power capacity by 2030. The government has listed 15 LNG-to-power projects, some still in the bidding stage and one converted from a previously planned coal-fired project. Under PDP-8, the share of coal power capacity would become zero in 2050.

Representatives from Novatek expressed their interest to supply LNG to PV Gas in 2023-26 while discussing potential LNG-to-power projects in Vietnam.

Novatek set up an office in Vietnam in 2021 to develop new projects that would draw on its LNG supplies. In 2019, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ninh Thuan province of Vietnam to build an LNG regasification terminal and gas-fired power plants.

Exxon Mobil executives also indicated their interest to supply LNG to the Thi Vai terminal and discussed investment potential in Vietnam’s upstream sector. The US major is already a player in Vietnam's upstream sector.

More recently Exxon switched tack and joined hands with Japanese power utility Jera in 2020 to look at developing an LNG import terminal and a power plant in the northern Hai Phong city. The project was not one of the 15 projects listed under PDP-8.

Blue Whale Surfaces
Concerned with the volatility of LNG prices, the Vietnamese government wants to give priority to and accelerate four offshore domestic gas projects, including Blue Whale (also known as Ca Voi Xanh field) which involves Exxon and state firm Petrovietnam.

The Blue Whale project is understood to be one of the projects under review by Exxon’s new board in 2021. Even before the review, the US major was hardly champing at the bit to develop the project and was rumored to be seeking an exit due to unsatisfactory commercial terms with the Vietnamese government.