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PetroVietnam eyes power projects EVN doesn’t want
The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) has sought government approval to invest in the 13 power projects that Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has rejected.
Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, its general director Tran Ngoc Canh said his group is fully qualified to take up the projects since it has established a power arm, PetroVietnam Power Corporation, and is implementing some other projects.
In August, EVN refused to invest in 13 power projects the government assigned to it, claiming it lacked funds.
Phan Thi Hoa, a member of the PetroVietnam board, said PetroVietnam’s affiliates run three power plants with a total capacity of 2,000 MW and are preparing to launch a power project in Laos and a few more in Vietnam.
The Hanoi-based company estimates it will need around US$20.7 billion to implement the projects that are expected to generate around 13,000 MW.
Canh said he is confident the group would be able to raise the money, pointing out PetroVietnam has experience in mobilizing funds for major projects.
“If the [13] plants are not built, the economy will suffer from a severe power shortage,” he warned.
Major state-owned groups should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the government in tackling economic difficulties, he said.
The country now generates 10,000-11,000 MW, about 1,500-2,000 MW below demand during peak hours, according to EVN.
Demand is expected to grow at 16 percent annually until 2015, EVN has estimated.
Some 10 million households use electricity paying around VND862 per kWh.
Nine-month oil output falls
PetroVietnam said crude oil production fell 7 percent in the first three quarters of the year. The state-owned giant banks on new fields to reverse the slide in output.
Its production of crude oil and condensate through the end of September totaled 10.78 million tons, according to a company release.
The figure is equivalent to a daily production of around 295,000 barrels, according to conversion figures previously provided by PetroVietnam.
Vietnam, Southeast Asia’s third-biggest oil producing nation after Indonesia and Malaysia, is headed for its fourth year of declining output as the more-than-two-decade-old Bach Ho field winds down.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told PetroVietnam in 2007 to reverse the trend of sliding production.
“In the fourth quarter, we want to fulfill the production plan,” PetroVietnam said in a company report. “Our steering committee is strongly determined and focused on every possible source to boost exploitation of oil and gas.”
The company has a full-year target of 16 million tons.
Crude oil production declined from a peak level of about 427,000 barrels per day to about 340,000 barrels per day last year, based on figures from BP Plc.
The output slump will reverse next year, JPMorgan Chase & Co. predicted in an August report.
Reserves rising
“Production has slid despite a consistent rise in proven reserves,” wrote Olivia Pham and Matt Hildebrandt of JPMorgan Chase in Singapore.
Vietnam had proven reserves of 3.4 billion barrels of crude at the end of 2007, up from 3.3 billion barrels at the end of 2006 and 1.2 billion in 1997, according to BP.
Production at Bach Ho, the country’s biggest oil field since it began yielding in 1986, fell 13 percent through July, according to Vietsovpetro, a Russian-Vietnamese joint venture that operates the area.
Through the end of September, output at the field totaled 5.12 million tons, or about 140,000 barrels per day, according to the joint venture, which didn’t provide comparable figures for the period.
Two new fields began production in the third quarter, according to PetroVietnam: Ca Ngu Vang, in which the UK’s Soco International Plc. has a stake, and Phuong Dong, in which Japan’s Nippon Oil Corp. has a stake.
Soco said in August that it was pumping about 12,000 barrels per day from Ca Ngu Vang and expected output to rise to about 20,000 barrels per day by October.
The Su Tu Vang field, in which Texas-based ConocoPhillips holds the biggest foreign stake, is due to start production this month, according to Nguyen Van Toan, deputy production director at PetroVietnam.
ConocoPhillips said in February that it has completed preliminary engineering on a northeast extension of its existing Su Tu Den offshore field and is appraising two other discoveries in the country.
The Song Doc field, in which Canada’s Talisman Energy Inc. and Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd have stakes, is due to start production this year, according to Talisman.
Thanhnien
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