Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and PetroVietnam Exploration are the partners of ExxonMobil in the Ca Voi Xanh project, which will see a multi-billion dollar investment.
The US oil and gas major and its partners have given the contract for front-end engineering and design of the gas-for-power project to Saipem’s XSIGHT division.
ExxonMobil said that it is filing appropriate permits, planning applications and carrying out other preparatory work for the proposed Ca Voi Xanh project in Vietnam.
The company will lead the construction and operation of the project, should it be approved. A final investment decision on the Ca Voi Xanh project is aimed to be reached in 2020 depending on regulatory approvals, executed gas sales agreements, government guarantees and economic competitiveness.
The project will produce and treat natural gas from the offshore Ca Voi Xanh field, which is located in block 118. It will have an offshore platform, a pipeline to deliver the gas to shore, an onshore gas treatment plant and pipelines that deliver gas to third-party power plants to produce electricity locally.
ExxonMobil revealed that Vietnam Electricity, PetroVietnam and Sembcorp are in talks to construct and operate the power plants. The proposed base development is anticipated to given an output of 3GW of power, which will be equivalent to nearly 10% of the current total power demand in Vietnam.
ExxonMobil Development president Liam Mallon said: “The Ca Voi Xanh project could bring a number of long-term benefits to the country, including cleaner, reliable power to help drive economic growth and improved living standards.
“If the project goes forward, it is estimated to generate $20 billion in revenue to the Vietnamese government, thousands of local jobs and improved energy security from domestic gas development.”
The block 118 partners discovered a significant quantity of natural gas in 2011 at the Ca Voi Xanh prospect. Also known as blue whale, the Voi Xanh field holds enough resources to produce the gas needed to provide power to a city like Hanoi for more than 20 years.
