According to PetroVietnam, PetroVietnam Gas and Cheniere officials met in the US to discuss cooperation in supplying LNG to Vietnam to meet the country’s growing energy demand.
Cheniere “appreciates and values the potential of the Vietnamese market and wishes to build a long-term relationship with PV GAS to ensure stability in supply and price for Vietnam,” PetroVietnam said in a statement.
The company said the meeting between PV Gas and Cheniere is expected to open up many cooperation opportunities in the LNG sector and contribute to the development of the energy industry in Vietnam.
PetroVietnam said PV Gas’s search for a US LNG supplier, such as Cheniere, is not only a strategic step to ensure national energy security but also helps promote the development of the LNG market in Vietnam.
The statement said that during the meeting, the two companies agreed to continue negotiations to reach official cooperation agreements.
Largest US LNG exporter
Cheniere is the largest US LNG exporter and the firm has shipped more than 3,570 LNG cargoes from its Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi terminals.
The Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana is the largest LNG terminal in the US and currently has a capacity of about 30 mtpa following the launch of the sixth train in February 2022.
In addition, Cheniere aims to build two new liquefaction trains as part of the Sabine Pass Stage 5 expansion project to add up to 20 mtpa of capacity to the giant facility.
On the other hand, Cheniere’s Corpus Christi liquefaction plant in Texas now has three operational trains, each with a capacity of about 5 mtpa.
In June 2022, Cheniere made the final investment decision on the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion project, worth about $8 billion.
The project includes building seven midscale trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 mtpa.
According to the latest construction report, the project is almost 66 percent complete.
Besides this expansion, Cheniere plans to build two more midscale trains at its Corpus Christi LNG plant.
The CCL midscale trains 8 and 9 project would include two trains, nearly identical in design to trains 1-7 and each capable of producing up to 1.64 mtpa of LNG.
Vietnam LNG imports
PV Gas launched its Thi Vai LNG terminal on October 29, 2023, after nearly 4 years of construction and commissioning.
This is Vietnam’s first LNG import terminal.
In July 2023, LNG giant Shell delivered the commissioning LNG cargo to the terminal from Indonesia’s Bontang LNG plant.
PV Gas has received five LNG cargoes at the facility so far and just issued a new spot LNG cargo tender for delivery in October.
Besides Shell, PetroVietnam Gas received cargoes from a unit of France’s TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy LNG, previously known as Qatargas, and PetroChina.
The Thi Vai LNG import facility consists of one 180,000-cbm LNG tank, a jetty, and regas area.
The terminal has a capacity of 1 mtpa in its first phase, but PV Gas plans to boost the capacity to 3 mtpa in the next stage.
In addition to this facility, the Cai Mep LNG terminal, located in Vung Tau district in South Vietnam, is expected to be launched later this year.
It is also worth mentioning here that PetroVietnam Power, a unit of state-owned PetroVietnam, plans to start commissioning its Nhon Trach 3 LNG power plant in October.
In November 2021, PV Power broke ground on the Nhon Trach 3 and 4 plants in the southern province of Dong Nai, which are worth about $1.4 billion.
Vietnam’s first LNG power plants will have a total capacity of 1.5 GW, according to PV Power.
