PetroVietnam Gas (PV Gas), one of Vietnam's leading gas trading firms, and PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation, will develop the second phase to tap gas at the Su Tu Trang (White Lion) field off the country's southern coast between 2020 and 2035.
The decision was made following an agreement signed on Friday, PV Gas said in a statement.
The new outflow will be delivered to the Dinh Co 2 gas processing plant in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Construction of the plant is slated to be completed in the last quarter of 2020 to provide 300,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas and 170,000 tons of condensate a year, the statement said.
PV Gas and PVEP are subsidiaries of national oil and gas group PetroVietnam.
Su Tu Trang in the Cuu Long basin has been supplying 600 million cubic meters (cbm) of gas per year under its first production phase that began in 2012. The second phase is expected to provide a total of 24 billion cbm during its 20-year production span, PV Gas said.
Higher gas output from Su Tu Trang, one of the four fields in block 15-1, could offset the country's declining natural gas output and help meet Vietnam's rising demand for fuel in coming years. In 2016 the Southeast Asian nation produced 10.61 billion cbm of natural gas, down 0.5 percent from the previous year, based on government data.
PV Gas said it will contribute 25 percent to the total investment for the second phase, which is estimated at $500 million.
Block 15-1 is jointly developed by PVEP and another four companies, with PVEP having 50 percent under the production sharing contract, followed by ConocoPhillips Cuu Long Ltd with 23.25 percent and South Korea's KNOC with 14,25 percent. SK Corporation has 9 percent and Geopetrol Vietnam 3.5 percent.
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