Vietnam aims to process Blue Whale gas-to-power project without ExxonMobil: Minister

Vietnam is considering proceeding with the long delayed mega gas-to-power Ca Voi Xanh (Blue Whale) project without American giant ExxonMobil in the initial phases, since the latter is engaged elsewhere, says Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien.

The project was approved for implementation by a partnership between the American firm and state-owned Petrovietnam years ago.

Speaking at a Thursday working session with the central province of Quang Ngai, where the project is located, the minister noted that while the project was featured in both Power Development Plan (PDP) VII and VIII, little progress had been made because ExxonMobil was restructuring itself and is now focusing on new energy.

While abolishing the project is not possible, further progress is going to be very difficult, Dien acknowledged.

One option would be to continue with the project’s gas-fired power plants using imported LNG instead of LNG from the Blue Whale gas field, which is yet to be exploited.

The project can utilize LNG from the Blue Whale gas field when Vietnam is able to exploit it, Dien added.

ExxonMobil and its Vietnamese partner first discovered the offshore Blue Whale field in 2011. “The resource is large enough to provide power to a city the size of Hanoi for more than 20 years,” ExxonMobil had highlighted then.

The project approved to exploit it includes an offshore platform, a pipeline to the mainland, an onshore gas treatment plant (GTP), and pipelines that would supply gas to various power plants.

Under the PDP VIII, five combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants of 750 MW would be fueled by gas from the Blue Whale field: Dung Quat I, Dung Quat II, Dung Quat III, Mien Trung I, and Mien Trung II.

The Dung Quat I and Dung Quat III, invested by state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN), have completed their feasibility study reports but have not yet submitted them for approval because the timeline of gas supplied from Blue Whale is not available, Dien said.

The Dung Quat II, invested by Singapore’s Sembcorp Utilities with an investment of $793 million, had it feasibility study report approved in 2018. The project is now progressing towards the signing of a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract, he added.

The Mien Trung I and Mien Trung II were given in-principle nods by the prime minister in 2019. The two projects, invested by Petrovietnam, have made little progress since.