PetroVietnam and Exxon Mobil have signed an investment agreement on a major gas project off the central province of Quang Nam.
The gas field, called Ca Voi Xanh (Blue Whale), has some 150 bcm of reserves - three times that of Nam Con Son, the country’s current biggest gas project so far.
PetroVietnam will in turn invest in a gas treatment plant, a two-turbine power plant in Quang Nam’s Nui Thanh District, and another power plant in nearby Quang Ngai Province.
The Ca Voi Xanh project has a total investment of $10 billion, PetroVietnam CEO Nguyen Vu Truong Son told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
Son added that the project has many shareholders, with the Vietnamese side holding a stake of around 40%.
Under the agreement, Exxon will construct two underwater exploration complexes, each with four gas wells, plus an 88km pipeline system connecting the project with the Quang Nam shore.
The project is scheduled to be commissioned in 2023, with the gas used to fuel the power plants.
The investment cooperation agreement was signed only two months after PetroVietnam and Exxon reached a framework heads of agreement and a gas sales heads of agreement for the project in January, during the then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the country.