PetroVietnam, South Korea’s Mubo partner on gas

Vietnam's state-owned PetroVietnam (PVN) today agreed an initial financing deal with the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, also known as Mubo, to strengthen and streamline South Korean companies' participation in natural gas projects with PVN and its subsidiaries.

The $1bn package has both mid- to long-term financial tranches available if South Korean companies secure PVN's natural gas projects.

PVN has plans to expand its gas field development, pipeline construction and gas-fired power plants in projects valued at around $12bn. This is aligned with the government's plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 through increased reliance on gas-fired power generation. PVN manages at least four gas-fired power plants, two coal-fired power plants and two hydropower plants, with 5404MW of total capacity, according to the firm.

State-owned PetroVietnam Gas (PV Gas) is at the forefront of the gas power sector projects. It operates the 1mn t/yr Thi Vai LNG terminal, commissioned in July 2023 and has started supplying gas-fired power generation to industrial customers since 15 March.

Vietnam is expecting to import more LNG, in anticipation of the start-up of the 1.6GW Nhon Trach LNG thermal power plant in November this year. The plant is comprised of two units that could require as much as 775,000 t/yr of LNG each, assuming a generating efficiency of 60pc.

It is also building the 3.6mn t/yr Son My LNG import terminal in Binh Thuan province in southcentral Vietnam. The first phase of commercial operations is scheduled for 2027. A second and third phase at Son My will lift's Vietnam's overall LNG import capacity to 10mn t/yr.

PV Gas is to supply 70,000t of LNG to state-owned utility EVN for use at its 715MW Phu My 3 thermal power plant in April and May, marking the first LNG supplies to the county's power sector.

Russia has also expressed interest to partner with Vietnam for oil and gas supplies, including LNG, following a state visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hanoi on 20 June.

By Naomi Ong