PV GAS Vung Tau Terminal- the mark of 20 years of operation and future mission
As the largest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) terminal in Vietnam, PV GAS Vung Tau Terminal is an important link in the Bach Ho and Nam Con Son gas chain, supplying 60% of LPG output consumed in Vietnam each year, maintaining PV GAS' domestic LPG trading market share, playing an important role in production and business, and ensuring national energy security. In August 2021, PV GAS celebrates its 20th anniversary since the terminal was put into commercial operation - an important milestone in completing the first gas industry chain in Vietnam.
The mark of 20 years of operation and development
In the late 1990s, the area along Cai Mep - Thi Vai river’s bank in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province was a wild land interlaced with swamps and rivers; very limited roads and infrastructure systems; and no industrial zones - seaport. As a pioneer in the Vietnam Gas Industry, Petrovietnam Gas Joint Stock Corporation (PV GAS) has quickly achieved the goal of completing construction on the 4.6-ha warehouse and export port of deep-processed products (LPG, condensate) in this area to serve the urgent domestic energy demand; and to meet the country's renovation, modernization and industrialization.
On October 28 in 2000, PV GAS officially put the project of warehouse and export port of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate on Thi Vai river’s bank in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province into trial operation, successfully exporting the first condensate ship in the joy of the entire Oil and Gas Industry. The trial period lasted until August in 2001.
On August 7, 2001, the State Pre-Acceptance Test Council for Gas Works signed the taking-over certificate which officially allowed PV GAS to put the terminal in commercial operation.
In the beginning time, the terminal under PetroVietnam Gas Vungtau Processing Company (PV GAS VT) managed the warehouse with a capacity of 7,200 tons of pressurized LPG and 46,000 m3 of condensate. Over time, its scale and scope are constantly growing.
Especially, since February in 2013, the terminal has completed the conversion of wharf No. 1 to increase the capacity to receive ships with the load carrying capacity of up to 60,000 tons (previously it could only receive ships with the load carrying capacity of up to 20,000 tons).
In sync with this step, at the terminal, PV GAS has launched and put the first and largest refrigerated LPG storage warehouse with a capacity of 60,000 tons into operation in Vietnam, equipping with advanced gas storage technology to meet the import demand of LPG. This has been a remarkable development helping the LPG output transported through the terminal to meet up to 60% of the domestic LPG demand, and at the same time to open opportunities for PV GAS to export LPG to the potential markets of neighboring Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries.
For last 20 years, the terminal has always successfully completed the assigned production tasks, operated in an absolutely safe manner, not had any serious technical problems or occupational accidents; complied with the regulations on safety of ships and tank trucks, the ones on the industry’s management of liquid product loss and international shipping regulations and practices.
Developing human resources to carry out the future mission
Currently, with nearly 130 employees, the terminal has exported and imported averagely more than 1,000 ships and nearly 20,000 tank trucks each year; output of goods exported/imported through it is about 1.5 million tons/year, contributing nearly 60% of LPG demand to Vietnam's domestic market (about 1.2 million tons/year), exporting 100% of condensate of PV GAS and Rosneft/Bien Dong POC from Dinh Co and Nam Con Son gas processing plants with a volume of about 150,000 tons/year (the current unique two condensate production plants in the country).
In the near future, PV GAS will face significant challenges in maintaining its LPG - LNG market share as many large economic groups have invested in more and more energy projects, leading to a strong competition in the gas market. From a positive perspective, this is also an opportunity for the terminal to “awaken its untapped potential”.
Based on the existing infrastructure, located at a strategic port in the Vung Tau Cai Mep - Thi Vai channel route, PV GAS Vung Tau Terminal continues being selected as the place to build the PV GAS first LNG warehouse with the capacity of 1 million tons/year (1 MMTPA) in the first phase which is expected to put into operation in the second quarter of 2022, and then expected to increase to 3-6 million tons/year, (expected to be put into operation in 2024 to 2025). With the source of imported LNG from abroad, this largest-scale LNG warehouse in Vietnam will supply the cluster of thermal power plants in the Southeast region. Moreover, PV GAS VT is carrying out a series of other projects to optimize the infrastructure at the port such as: the planning of pressurized LPG tanks; the one on development of port services with potential customers in the neighbouring areas,…
In the long-term orientation, the terminal’s staff determine to continue building and improving methodically the fundamental elements and develop PV GAS culture, PV GAS VT corporate culture with 3 core values of "Connection - Civilization - Responsibility", so that it forever deserves to be a bright spot in key gas projects of PV GAS.