LNG

Naturgy Energy, the power company with LNG operations from Puerto Rico to Europe and pipeline gas networks from Algeria to South America, reported a more than 20 percent rise in annual net profits.

AES Corp. of the US whose businesses include electricity supplies and stakes in liquefied natural gas and power in the Dominican Republic and Panama, has been able to narrow its net losses amid changing markets and as its swallows the high cost of moving to renewables.

Sept 27 (LNGJ) - AES Corp., the New York Stock Exchange-listed company, has agreed to sell minority stakes in its LNG businesses in the Dominican Republic and Panama. The agreements include the sale of 10 percent of the AES  business in the Dominican Republic to local Latin American firms Grupo Linda and the Grupo Popular subsidiary, AFI Popular. The AES Dominican Republic assets include an LNG regasification terminal with a 160,000  cubic metres of LNG capacity, the AES Andres 319 megawatts combined-cycle gas-fired power plant, the DPP 328 MW plant and an additional 150 MW of solar and wind power plants.

The US company is also selling stakes in its assets in the Panamanian port of Colón. “AES is selling 20 percent of AES Colón in Panama, also to Grupo Linda. AES Colón includes a 381 MW combined-cycle gas turbine with an adjacent regasification facility that has a 180,000 cubic metres LNG capacity storage tank,” said the company.

PetroVietnam has signed an agreement with US company AES Corp to form a joint venture for a $1.3 billion liquefied natural gas import terminal linked to a power project at Son My in Binh Thuan province of Vietnam.

PetroVietnam’s natural gas subsidiary, PetroVietnam Gas, said the terminal would import around 3.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG cargoes to the Asian nation by 2025.

“The signing took place in New York City and was one of the main activities on the sidelines on the occasion of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc's participation in the joint discussions session of the 76th United Nations General Assembly,” said a statement from PetroVietnam.

The AES-PetroVietnam LNG signing ceremony was attended by Vietnamese state leaders, including the President himself, who made a speech, as well as Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment, Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Industry, and Trade and Nguyen Thanh Nghi, Minister of Construction.

The AES LNG-for-power project in Vietnam was first discussed at the Indo-Pacific Business Forum in October 2020, attended by the then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

AES, based in Arlington, Virginia, is an experienced LNG industry participant, having set up LNG imports for the Dominican Republic way back in 2003 with the import facility at Punta Caucedo operated by its subsidiary AES Andres.

AES was also behind the debut of Panama as an LNG importer with its Costa Norte project in operation since 2018.

Vietnam is developing up to six LNG import projects backed by power plant developments along its coast from the northern port of Haiphong to the ports in the South.

The President said in his speech that this was a project that had received the attention of the two states of Vietnam and the United States, leading to the establishment of the joint venture, Son My LNG.

“I hope that the construction of the Son My LNG Terminal will contribute to ensuring the supply of LNG for our power generation needs in key economic regions,” he stated.

PetroVietnam executives also attended, including Chairman Hoang Quoc Vuong and Duong Manh Son, General Director of PetroVietnam Gas.

On the AES side were Bernerd Da Santos, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, David Stone, President of AES Vietnam, Joe Uddo, Vice President of AES Market Development and Gaelle Burkhart, AES Global Cooperation Director.

Speaking for AES, COO Da Santos expressed his sincere appreciation of his company’s relationship with PetroVietnam.

“We thank the Government and all the ministries and especially the attention and direction given to the project by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his attendance at this event,” said Da Santos

“The signatories of the Agreement promise to be determined in developing the joint venture so that the Son My LNG can start operating as a development company in November 2021,” added Da Santos.

AES Corp., the US company that was the first to develop an LNG import terminal in the Caribbean, was named by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as the latest American corporation to be involved in LNG and power infrastrasture development in Vietnam.

Pompeo told a virtual conference of the Indo-Pacific Business Forum that AES would sign an agreement with PetroVietnam Gas for a $2.8-billion LNG-to-power project in the southeast Asian nation.

AES is an experienced LNG industry participant, having set up LNG imports for the Dominican Republic way back in 2003 with the import facility at Punta Caucedo operated by its subsidiary AES Andres.

“Vietnam has given the green light to AES Corp., a company based in Virginia, to go forward with the project,” stated Pompeo at the online forum.

AES was also behind the debut of Panama as an LNG importer with its Costa Norte project in operation since 2018.

Vietnam is developing four LNG import projects backed by power plant developments along its coast from northern port of Haiphong to the ports in the South.

Vietnamese officials also said after the declaration by Secretary of State Pompeo that Delta Offshore Energy, the Singapore-based company developing an LNG and power project in Bac Lieu province in the Mekong Delta, has moved forward with its plans.

They said that the Bac Lieu province LNG-to-power project had signed preliminary contracts with several US engineering and equipment companies, naming McDermott International and Bechtel Inc. as well as power plant supplier General Electric.

Pompeo said it was a “real win-win” situation for the US and Vietnam as the AES deal and others would also open the door for the supply of billions of dollars of US LNG shipments and investments with Vietnamese and other partners in power infrastructure.

The forum was also attended by Pompeo’s Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh.

Pompeo made his remarks on an Asian tour, taking in India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia.

Vietnam is building four LNG-to-power plants, with the first to be operational by 2023.

Vietnam said in June 2020 that talks had taken place by telephone between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and ExxonMobil on the development of a power and LNG venture in Haiphong.

Prime Minister Nguyen said at the time that he welcomed ExxonMobil’s willingness to invest in Vietnam in many areas, including natural gas exploration and LNG, petrochemical refining and electricity production from LNG.

The Bac Lieu project of Delta Offshore is the most advanced of the planned Vietnamese LNG terminal build-out and the company said in September 2020 that it had also signed a technology license agreement with Sweden’s Stena Power and LNG Solutions for jetty-less LNG receiving and regasification technology.

A third Vietnamese LNG terminal is envisaged adjacent to a gas-fired power station in Ninh Thuan province, south of Cam Ranh Bay.

The fourth project is at Long An, also on the Mekong Delta, and this will see the development of a 3,000-megawatts power plant as well as an import terminal.

AES Corp., the US power company and Caribbean LNG import terminal owner, has named Belgian engineering firm Tractebel as owner’s engineer for the expansion of the existing LNG terminal near Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.