UK Jadestone Energy seeks more cooperation with Petrovietnam

UK Jadestone Energy, an independent upstream production and development company focused on the Asia-Pacific region, is eyeing opportunities to further cooperate with Vietnam's state giant Petrovietnam.

President and CEO Thomas Mitchell (Mitch) Little made the statement at a meeting with Petrovietnam CEO Le Ngoc Son in Hanoi last Thursday.

Little commended Petrovietnam’s long-term vision and development strategy, saying Vietnam as one of the company's key markets.

The working session not only reaffirmed the close and trusted partnership between Petrovietnam and Jadestone, but also opened up new prospects for bilateral cooperation, particularly in gas exploration, with a focus on the Nam Du-U Minh field project offshore southwest Vietnam, Petrovietnam said on its website.

Son stressed the need to fast-track joint projects, especially in gas exploration, to meet Vietnam’s surging energy demand.

He said soaring demand for natural gas requires Petrovietnam to scale up supply from both domestic production and imported LNG to achieve at least double-digit growth targets in the energy sector.

The Vietnamese corporation aims to maximize output from existing gas fields while actively exploring and developing new sources to support national socio-economic development, the CEO noted.

The Nam Du-U Minh gas project forms a key part of this overarching strategy, and Petrovietnam is seeking closer coordination with Jadestone to finalize existing agreements, aiming to bring first gas on stream as soon as possible, he said.

Nam Du-U Minh, covering 4,677 square kilometers with a depth of 50 meters, features Nam Du discovery in Block 46/07 and U Minh discovery in Block 51.

It is expected to supply approximately 5.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas during the plateau phase to Vietnam’s southwest region.

The entire gas volume from the fields will be transported through the existing PM3-CAA pipeline system to Petrovietnam’s Ca Mau gas-power-fertilizer complex, contributing to the energy security and food supply for Ca Mau province in particular and the southwest region as a whole.

In March 2025, Jadestone, headquartered in Singapore and listed on the London Stock Exchange as JSE, announced that it has submitted a field development plan for the Nam Du/U Minh discoveries, commencing the regulatory approval process.

The next steps in the development process include finalizing the gas sales agreement, which is well advanced with the gas buyer, to formalize the heads of terms agreed in January 2024.