PV Gas granted Vietnam’s first license to import, export LNG

Petrovietnam Gas JSC has received the first license in Vietnam from the Ministry of Industry and Trade to import and export liquefied natural gas (LNG), the subsidiary of state-owned Petrovietnam announced on Monday.

The company, whose trading name is PV Gas, is listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as GAS.

The firm has already completed its LNG facilities, including the 180,000-cubic-meter LNG Thi Vai terminal, in the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The terminal, able to receive ships of up to 100,000 deadweight tons (DWT), is set to enter operation this year, with an annual capacity of transporting one million tons of LNG in the first phase and three million tons in the second phase.

LNG is a low-emission and eco-friendly fuel, which can replace other energy sources such as coal, fuel oil, and diesel, and complement other depleting gas sources in Vietnam, the firm said. PV Gas’ current business includes storing, transporting, importing, and distributing natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and LNG.

There are no LNG power plants operational in Vietnam at present. The country is trying to discourage coal-fired power generation, which supplies about half of its electricity output. Meanwhile, the volatile price of LNG is a major concern for authorities drafting the latest national power development plan (PDP VIII).

Petrovietnam Power Corp.’s Nhon Trach 3 & 4 power plants, with a combined capacity of 1.6 gigawatts, are Vietnam’s first LNG projects. They are under construction in Dong Nai province near Ho Chi Minh City.

In September 2022, American energy corporation AES received in-principle approval from the Ministry of Industry and Trade for its VND50,432 billion ($2.11 billion) Son My 2 LNG-to-power plant in the south-central province of Binh Thuan. The built-operate-transfer (BOT) project’s development timeline is from 2023 to 2028. It will feature three 750-MW turbines and be fueled by the Son My LNG terminal.

Also in September last year, Japan's Tokyo Gas and Kyuden Group inked a memorandum of understanding with Truong Thanh Vietnam JSC on jointly developing an LNG power project with a phase-one capacity of 1,500 megawatts in the northern province of Thai Binh.

In the same month, Petrovietnam subsidiary PV Power agreed on a 30% capital contribution to a consortium that will build a $2 billion LNG complex in Quang Ninh province, also in the north. The three other companies in the consortium are Vietnamese firm Colavi, and Japanese firms Tokyo Gas Co. and Marubeni Corp.

Novatek, Russia's second-largest natural gas producer, is considering shipping LNG to Vietnam for existing and future power plants, said CEO Leonid Mikhelson in November 2022.

In March 2023, local firm Anh Phat Investment Construction-Trading JSC kicked off the VND3.94 trillion ($168 million) expansion of its gas & LNG complex in the central province of Thanh Hoa. The project aims to upgrade the facilities for supplying gasoline and LNG to Vietnam's northern and north-central regions.

According to Vietnam's draft PDP VIII for the period until 2030 with a vision to 2050, from zero at the moment, LNG-fired power will have a capacity of 22,400 MW and account for 14.2% of total power generation in Vietnam in 2030, then 12,400 MW and 2.53% in 2050.