Addressing the signing ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue hailed the efforts made by PetroVietnam and its US partner since the contract on oil and gas division was signed in 2009, including the completion of this framework agreement.

 

The Government and relevant ministries will instruct the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and PetroVietnam to quickly reach a framework agreement on electricity selling and buying contract and select investors of power plants in the Dung Quat Economic Zone, while devising proper mechanisms for the power plants using gas exploited from the Blue Whale field, Hue affirmed. 

 

He urged ExxonMobil and PetroVietnam to work hard to have the first gas flow pumped from the field by the end of 2023.

 

The Blue Whale gas project is expected to provide gas for power generation serving the development of the central region as well as add energy sources to the southern region, contributing to ensuring the nation’s energy security, fueling local economic development and creating more jobs for the region.

 

The framework agreement will lay a foundation for contractors to optimise the preliminary front end engineering design (Pre-FEED) and FEED work to achieve the project’s targets.

 

In the first phase, the project is expected to supply sufficient crude gas for the four power plants in the Chu Lai EZ in Quang Nam and the Dung Quat EZ in Quang Ngai, with a combined capacity of 3,000 MW. After that, it will supply gas for the fifth 750 MW-power plant.

 

The Blue Whale project is part of the planning on the gas-electricity complex in the central region which has been approved by the government, and in line with the Gas Development Planning and the 7th Vietnam Power Development Planning (PDP7).