The Vietnam Gas Corporation, PV Gas, signed a deal with contractors on July 16 worth US$441.57 million for engineering, procurement and construction of a gas processing plant in Ho Chi Minh City.

 The plant will be built close to another gas processing plant in the oil-rich southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau to supply two major residential quarters in HCM City and an industrial zone in neighbouring Dong Nai province.

 Vu Van Thuan, General Director of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Construction and Assembly Joint-stock Corporation (PVX), the project co-contractor, said the project, including gas tanks and pipelines, is an important part of the Nam Con Con gas pipeline project No. 2.

 The plant is designed to process 20 million m3 of gas per day and will receive natural gas from the Nam Con Son basin in Vietnam’s southern continental shelf through an off-shore pipeline to produce condensate, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and ethanol. Condensate will be transported to the Phu My distribution station in HCM City through an onshore pipeline.

 Along with the plant, contractors, including the Oil and Gas Metal Structuring and Assembly Joint-stock Company, will also build pipelines to carry LPG, condensate and ethanol.

 The project aims to pump 1.5 billion m3 of natural gas annually from the Nam Con Son basin by 2013, 2.8 billion m3. by 2014, and 3.09 billion m3 by 2017, up until 2024.

 Experts estimate the Nam Con Son reserves to be the equivalent of 590 million m3 of oil.

 VNA/VOVNews