Vietnam To Build Pipeline Network To Bring Gas Onshore
HANOI, May 25, Asia Pulse - Petro Vietnam is finalising a masterplan to build a network of pipelines to bring gas onshore in large quantities to fuel three power plants in the south.
Tra Noc and O Mon thermo-electricity plants, operating at a combined capacity of 771 MW, and a would-be electricity-fertilizer complex in southernmost Ca Mau province will be those first clients.
The oil and gas giant said its largest market is the power industry which can consume more than 80 per cent of the national gas output. The industry's development masterplan for the 2001-2010 period calls for putting into operation 11 new projects with a combined capacity of 2,823 MW. Once completed, those projects will consume an estimated 3.6 billion cubic metres of gas a year.
Demand for gas is predicted to surge in the next few years. Demand by the earthernware, porcelain, and building glass industries is estimated to reach 200 million cubic metres of gas a year and demand by the fisheries 52 million cu.m a year for the operation of fishing boats.
Expanded cement plants will also consume a huge volume of gas. The Sao Mai cement project, capacity of 1.2 million tonnes a year, for example, will demand 112 million cu.m of gas annually. The Ha Tien cement plant 2, with its recent expansion, will now consume 112 million cu.m.
Gas reserves off Vietnam's southwestern continental shelf are estimated at more than 150 billion cu.m., 1.3 to 1.5 billion cu. m of which has the potential to be easily tapped.
The first discovery of commercial value was made in the waters shared by Vietnam and Malaysia at Well PM3. The two countries worked together in exploring the region from 1989 to 1996, leading to the discovery of seven oil and gas wells. They began joint exploitation operations in July 1997, and are expected to retrieve 2.5 billion cu.m of gas a year.
Total-Fina group has discovered a gas reserve estimated at 20 billion cu. m at Lots 46, 50 and 51. These are expected to produce 1 billion cu.m a year.
Petro Vietnam, the national oil and gas giant, signed in 1996 a contract with American fuel company, Unocal, on exploring and exploiting oil and gas at Lots 48-95 and 52-97. The American contractor had discovered Kim Long Well with a gas reserve estimated at 72 billion cu. m. In addition, a well found at Vang Den (Black Gold) has a reserve estimated at 4 billion cu.m and another at Dim Su, an estimated 13 billion cu.m.
The biggest obstacle faced by Petro Vietnam in its effort to bring gas onshore lies in extremely poor infrastructure in the Mekong Delta and the southwestern region.
(VNA) |
