The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has agreed to contribute USD 415M in co-financing for a gas project in Vietnam co-owned by Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. (MOECO).
The state-owned lender signed agreements with MOECO Vietnam Petroleum Co. Ltd. (MVP), MOECO Southwest Vietnam Petroleum Co. Ltd. (MSVP), and MOECO Southwest Vietnam Pipeline BV (MSPL) for loans of about USD 167M, about USD 161M, and about USD 87M respectively. JBIC said in a statement, “The loans are co-financed with private financial institutions, bringing the total co-financing amounts to USD 335M, USD 322M, and USD 175M, respectively”, totaling USD 832M.
MVP and MSVP are joint ventures of MOECO and the state-owned Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC). MSPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of MOECO, which itself is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese diversified group Mitsui & Co. Ltd.
Expected to start production in 2026, the Block B project consists of a gas field off the southwest coast of the Southeast Asian country and a pipeline network linking it to a gas-run thermal power plant complex. The development has a production capacity of 490 million cubic feet per day.
Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) operates the upstream component with a 42% stake. Petrovietnam subsidiary Petrovietnam Exploration Production Corp. Ltd. holds 27%. MVP and MSVP, the MOECO-JOGMEC joint ventures, own a joint interest of 23%. PTTEP Kim Long Vietnam Co. Ltd. and PTTEP Southwest Vietnam Co. Ltd., both subsidiaries of Thailand’s state-owned PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. (PTTEP), jointly own the remaining 8%.
The midstream component is also operated by Petrovietnam with a 29% stake, while its subsidiary Petrovietnam Gas JSC has 51%. MOECO’s MSPL holds 15%. PTTEP subsidiary PTTEP Southwest Vietnam Pipeline Co. Ltd. owns the remaining 5%.
