Vietnam is estimated to lack around 400 million cubic meters of dry gas in 2007, said petroleum experts.
The figure is forecast to climb US$1.8 billion cubic meters by 2010, they said, adding that the southern region will be the hardest hit area.
The situation is attributed to the thin volume of appraised gas despite great potential. The country has estimated only 400 billion cubic meters of natural gas out of total likely reserve of over 2,000 billion cubic meters.
Low gas price has been the biggest barrier to the sector development, said an official of the state-owned oil monopoly PetroVietnam, adding that the government decides crude gas prices.
Gas sourced from Bach Ho oilfield is sold to power plants at only US$2 per one million British thermal units (BTU), which is equivalent to only 21 per cent of the global price, the official said.
Price of gas derived from the Nam Con Son Basin represents 34 per cent of the world rate while condensate’s price accounts for 30 per cent of the international one.
In a bid to improve the situation, PetroVietnam Gas Corp (PV Gas), an affiliate of state-owned oil monopoly has proposed the government to build a gas price roadmap tied to the global rate but PetroVietnam and relevant ministries, agencies are determined to curb inflation rate and not to raise gas prices.
PV Gas is seeking to import crude oil from Malaysia and Indonesia to offset the country’s fuel thirst while speeding up the construction of Phu My - Ho Chi Minh City gas pipeline and a gas pipeline of at block B to fuel O Mon power plant in southern Can Tho City.
PetroVietnam has demanded PV Gas to bring ashore between 6.1 billion and 9.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually in the 2007-2010 period, and timely put in use carbon dioxide content.
A total of US$4.5 billion is planned for the gas sector in the period.
Vietnam is estimated to have a reserve of over four billion cubic meters of oil equivalent.
The country is forecast to consume nearly 70 million tons of oil equivalent by 2015, said the Institute of Strategy Research under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. (Liberated Saigon)
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