LNG

S&P Global Inc. said its Platts pricing unit has launched a Southeast Asia price assessment for liquefied natural gas cargoes as a differential to the existing Japan-Korea Marker for spot cargoes as well as on an outright basis.

July 10 (LNGJ) - PetroVietnam said the nation’s first LNG terminal, the Thi Vai facility, was ready for commissioning and has just received its first LNG cargo. The company said that the shipment was acquired from Shell and was delivered by the “Maran Gas Achilles” carrier with 174,000 cubic metres of capacity.

   “Thi Vai LNG welcomes the first imported cargo and this is one of the historic moments of PV GAS as well as of Vietnam's energy industry. Let's admire the images of the LNG terminal in Vietnam,” said PetroVietnam in directing traffic to its web site. The development of the Thi Vai LNG terminal project is mainly to provide gas-fired power at the Nhon Trach power project in the southeast region of the country.

Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure, a unit of the Swedish maritime equipment-maker listed on the Nasdaq, said it was delivering docking and mooring equipment and ship-shore links to PetroVietnam Gas for the Thi Vai LNG import terminal project in southern Vietnam.

“It is our pleasure to have been selected as a strategic partner for such a landmark project and consequently play a key role in facilitating Vietnam's transition to LNG gas thermal power,” said Richard Hepworth, President of Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure.

Trelleborg will also supply a selection of docking and mooring equipment.

This includes its Quick Release Hooks (QRH), the foundation for modern mooring systems at terminals.

“The Load Monitoring System, which measures and displays critical mooring line tensions and its Docking Aid System, which increases situational awareness, provide vital information such as distances, angles, and speeds to pilots and jetty operators to ensure the vessel is safely docked,” explained the company.

Ship-shore link

“At the same time, its Ship-Shore Link system supports LNG carrier loading and cargo discharge,” it added.

“Additionally, the terminal will utilize Trelleborg’s Environmental Monitoring System which provides weather, tide, current and wave information to the staff at the berth, at the operations center, or to the vessel,” said the company.

The Vietnamese terminal is located in the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau and when operational it will have capacity to import of one million tonnes per annum of LNG and up to 3 MTPA in the second phase of development.

“In order to safeguard the traffic of LNG carriers supplying international routes, it was vital that we upgraded the terminal with an integrated berthing system that successfully meets international LNG operation safety and quality specifications and standards,” explained PetroVietnam.

“We’ve no doubt Trelleborg is the ideal strategic partner to realize our ambition of facilitating LNG supply for Vietnam,” said the Vietnamese state energy company. 

PetroVietnam Gas said it was making progress with plans to raise investments for infrastructure for importing, storing and distributing liquefied natural gas nationwide and the start-up of LNG imports is just a year away .

A board meeting of PV Gas said that each region of the southeast Asian nation would have one of three proposed LNG hubs.

These are the Thi Vai LNG storage and regasification terminal in the South, the Son My LNG storage and regas facility in the central region and a large storage and regas hub icovering Quang Ninh, Hai Phong and Thanh Hoa in the North.

PV Gas said the aim was to begin importing LNG cargoes by 2022 as the company explained that its own domestic natural gas production has declined.

The state-owned energy firm said that currently, there was a focus on the construction of an import terminal and storage with a capacity of one million tonnes of LNG per annum in Thi Vai. PV Gas said the Thi Vai LNG project is about 90 percent complete.

“It is expected to be put into operation in the third quarter of 2022 and other infrastucture, including an LNG jetty for tankers in Thi Vai, are also being worked on,” said PV Gas in a statement.

The company said it was focusing on preparing short and medium-term LNG import agreements.

US agreement

PV GAS and US-based AES Corp, have a joint venture agreement on the establishment and operation of the central region’s Son My LNG port and storage hub.

PetroVietnam signed an agreement with AES in September 2021 to form a joint venture for a $1.3Bln LNG terminal linked to a power project at Son My, located in Binh Thuan province.

AES, based in Arlington, Virginia, is an experienced LNG industry participant, having set up Caribbean LNG imports for the Dominican Republic way back in 2003 with the 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.

PV Gas, whose headquarters are in Ho Chi Minh City, became one of several Vietnamese businesses with a market capitalisation approaching US$10 billion as the stock price has risen by 48 percent since the beginning of 2021.

It hit a record at 125,000 Vietnamese dong per share in October.

However, the shares have since dropped to 118,900 dong per share, giving the company a current market capitalization of 22,605 trillion dong (US$8.72Bln).

In the last quarter, PV Gas posted consolidated profits after tax of 2.46 trillion dong ($95.3 million).

There are two official stock exchanges in Vietnam, one called the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) and the second is the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

Securities of unlisted public companies may be registered to be traded on the regulated over-the-counter (OTC) market on the Hanoi Stock Exchange.

The number of listings on each exchange is about 380 as of the start of 2021.

The Government has already approved a plan to set up the Vietnam Stock Exchange (VSE) based on the consolidation of the HOSE and the HNX.

The VSE will be a 100 percent state-owned limited liability 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.

Vietnam said it was in talks with US major ExxonMobil Corp. on the possibility of investing in new projects to develop liquefied natural gas imports for the southeast Asian nation to meet increasing power needs and it was seeking US shipments.

The government in Hanoi issued a statement that Vietnam welcomed ExxonMobil’s interest in the provision of new investment.

It issued the statement after a phone call between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Irtiza Sayyed, President of ExxonMobil LNG Market Development Inc.

“Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomed ExxonMobil’s plan to invest in Vietnam in many areas, including natural gas exploration and LNG, petrochemical refining and electricity production from LNG,” said the government.

“The Prime Minister affirmed that ExxonMobil's cooperation is very important, contributing to the joint cooperation between Vietnam and the United States, especially this year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries,” it added.

The statement mentioned in particular ExxonMobil possibly investing in the development of the LNG-for-power chain with a capacity of about 3,000 megawatts in Long An in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam.

“For this, ExxonMobil will ensure a continuous supply of LNG directly from the United States and from several other countries. LNG import will contribute to creating a harmonious trade balance between Vietnam and the US,” said the Vietnamese.

The government added that another possible project was the 4,000-MW LNG-for-power plant in the northern port city of Haiphong, adding that this could be completed between 2025 and 2030.

ExxonMobil’s main US LNG export interests are as a shareholder in the Qatar Petroleum-led Golden Pass export project in Texas.

Qatar Petroleum owns 70 percent of the Golden Pass joint venture and ExxonMobil holds 30 percent.

Originally built as an import facility on the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Texas before the shale-gas revolution, Golden Pass will be reconfigured to export up to 15.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

An engineering consortium comprising McDermott and Zachry Group of the US and Japan’s Chiyoda Corp. has been awarded the contract to build the plant.

The Qatar state energy company and ExxonMobil have also been running a joint marketing company called Ocean LNG, created in 2016.

Ocean LNG is responsible for placing all of the offtake from the Golden Pass liquefaction facility.

Following a final investment decision for Golden Pass made on the 5th of February 2019, the companies have been focusing on marketing US LNG volumes in the Asia-Pacific region.

ExxonMobil has been engaged in Vietnam offshore activities for several years, though progress has been slow.

Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Vietnam Exploration and Production Corp. (PVEP) are parties to a production-sharing agreement for offshore blocks 117-119.

However, no significant progress has been made since pre-front-end engineering and design was completed in 2018 on the Ca Voi Xanh field, also known as the Blue Whale field.

ExxonMobil has said that the Blue Whale field natural gas resources are large enough to provide power for a city the size of Hanoi for more than 20 years.