PetroVietnam Inks Gas MoUs with US Firms

PetroVietnam Gas (PV Gas), a unit of state owned PetroVietnam, has signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with US firms.

The MoUs were signed November 12 with power group AES Corporation and with the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation during US president Donald Trump’s visit to Hanoi, Petrovietnam said the same day. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Vietnam's president Tran Dai Quang and his US counterpart Donald Trump.

The first MoU signed was between PV Gas and AES relates to the Son My LNG terminal project. The MoU expresses AES’s interest in collaborating with PV Gas in developing the terminal.

PV Gas said that the Son My LNG terminal project will play a significant role in diversifying the gas sources as well as meeting the growing demand of gas and electricity in Vietnam.

The company's website says that Son My, located in Binh Thuan province, will have an initial 3mn metric ton/yr capacity some time around 2018 to supply independent power plants in the area, but could be increased to 6mn to 10mn mt/yr capacity after 2020 to supply gas to customers in south central and southern Vietnam.

Under the MoU inked between PV Gas and AGDC, the latter will collaborate with PV Gas to supply LNG to Vietnam as well as in studying and evaluating the opportunities of PV Gas in investing in and developing gas fields in Alaska. AGDC also signed a separate significant if non-binding agreement with Chinese state interests last week.

Officially communist like China, Vietnam is similarly pursuing economic growth and developing partnerships with western businesses.

Earlier this year ExxonMobil signed two agreements relating to Vietnam's offshore Blue Whale gas project, targeting first gas in the 2020s.

Shardul Sharma