PetroVietnam to buy LNG from QatarEnergy, first shipment due in April

Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) has signed a contract with QatarEnergy LNG for the purchase of 70,000 metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG), set to be delivered next month.

According to the Vietnamese company, the LNG will be delivered to its Thi Vai LNG terminal on April 12−13, 2024, “to serve industrial production needs, ensuring national energy security when entering the dry season”.

Following the invitation to tender, the Qatari player was selected as the winning bidder. As stated by PetroVietnam, the shipment will be a timely fuel source as the demand for energy nears its peak in the early summer of 2024. 

Inaugurated in October 2023, the Thi Vai LNG terminal is the first and only LNG terminal in operation in Vietnam, with a capacity of one million tons, run by PetroVietnam, the only entity authorized to import and export LNG to and from the country. After it was put into trial operation in April 2023, the terminal received the first LNG shipment in July of the same year.

QatarEnergy LNG is the subsidiary of Qatar’s state-owned energy giant QatarEnergy, which is currently undergoing a huge fleet extension program. For this reason, the company has hired South Korean companies Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) to build 17 LNG vessels and Hanwha Ocean to build another eight, for a total of 25. Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) has been entrusted with owning and operating them under 15-year time-charter party (TCP) agreements.