Vietnam urges Exxon Mobil to accelerate long-delayed Blue Whale gas field project

Vietnam expects the U.S.'s Exxon Mobil to speed up the long-delayed Blue Whale gas field project in line with the contract.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien made his call during a meeting with Exxon Mobil’s vice presidents Jenniffer Chan and Zoe Barinaga on June 10, within the framework of his working visit to the United States.

During the talks, Dien praised the 16-year partnership between Vietnam and Exxon Mobil and welcomed the company’s continued engagement in Vietnam’s energy sector, including oil and gas exploration-exploitation and gas-fired power projects.

He said he appreciates Exxon Mobil's commitment to Vietnam in providing reliable energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, aiming for carbon neutrality.

In reply, the Exxon Mobil executives affirmed their confidence in Vietnam’s economic outlook and potential in the Southeast Asian region, citing these as key reasons for their ongoing investment.

They said the group highly appreciates Vietnam's recent reforms under the leadership of Party chief To Lam and believes that the country's positive changes combined with political stability are making investors confident.

They pledged to deliver positive messages about Vietnam to the White House, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Energy, in support of Vietnam’s ongoing trade negotations with the U.S.

In March 2017, state-owned Petrovietnam and Exxon Mobil signed a deal on the Blue Whale project investment cooperation. Since then, the project has made little headway despite its strategic importance.

Under the original plan, Exxon Mobil would construct an offshore wellhead platform and two underwater production clusters, each with four wells and an 88-kilometer pipeline to Chu Lai onshore.

Meanwhile, PVN was tasked with developing a gas processing plant and a two-turbine power plant with a combined capacity of over 1,200-1,400 MW in the central province of Quang Nam. These facilities were initially scheduled to begin operation in 2023.

According to the information available at that time, the total annual gas output would be about 9-10 billion m3, enough to supply 4-5 power plants with a total capacity of more than 3,000 MW.

The time set for acquiring the first gas flow from this field has been moved to 2028 compared to the original timeline of 2023. However, this goal is also facing great challenges as up to now, the progress has seen almost no change.

According to a document sent by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to the Quang Nam province People's Committee on July 2, 2024, Exxon Mobil reported on the project implementation status which showed the progress was not much changed.

Key bottlenecks include unresolved land lease procedures, the need to upgrade Ky Ha port for condensate transport, and the pipeline passing through Chu Lai International Airport. Besides, Exxon Mobil currently does not prioritize the project due to global energy transition pressures, the ministry said.

The lack of progress in the project affects the implementation and approval of downstream power projects.

According to a conclusion notice dated June 3, 2025 of Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son following a meeting of the State Steering Committee for Important National Energy Programs and Projects, the Government requested the trade ministry, agencies, and enterprises to seriously learn from the delay in implementing assigned tasks, including the Blue Whale project.

At the same time, the Government requested Petrovietnam to focus on working with Exxon Mobil to agree on a plan to completely resolve the issues related to the project and report the results to the Prime Minister in June 2025.