Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 24

AsiaElec GAS-FIRED GENERATION AsiaElec

ExxonMobil mulls Vietnamese power

VIETNAM EXXONMOBIL could be considering a major years, and to replace this planned capacity with
investment in Vietnam’s gas-fired generating gas and renewables.
sector in a bid to find new gas markets and to By 2030, the government’s National Steering
promote US exports. Committee for Power Development wants the
The Vietnamese government said this week capacity of new power plants using LNG to be
that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had held 12,750 MW, excluding old power plants con-
a telephone call with ExxonMobil LNG Market verted to use LNG. 6,000 MW of this figure are
Development president Irtiza Sayyed, where under the PDP VII, including the Nhơn Trạch 3
they discussed ExxonMobil buying into two and 4 (capacity of 1,500 MW) and Sơn Mỹ 1 and
power plants and LNG import assets, Bloomberg 2 (4,500 MW) power plants.
reported. The prime minister said shipments of Vietnam would also need power plants using
US LNG would “help create harmonious trade LNG in the north and the centre to replace Hải
balance between Vietnam and US.” Phòng 3 and Vũng Áng 3 coal-fired thermal
The government said in a statement that Viet- power plants (TPPs).
nam had huge demand for energy and welcomed Meanwhile, ExxonMobil is already involved
ExxonMobil’s move to invest in the country. in Vietnam through a 64% stake in the Blue
One possible project is a 4,000-MW LNG- Whale offshore gas development through a
to-power plant in the city of Haiphong, the gov- partnership with state-owned Vietnam Oil &
ernment said, which could be opened between Gas Group.
2025 and 2030. Another possibility is a planned The world’s supermajors are looking to find
3,000-MW LNG power plant in the Mekong new investment activities as they are forced by
Delta province of Long An. The government said investor activism to reduce their dependence oil
that the projects could use LNG imported form and to develop cleaner energy.
the US and other countries. Companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and
The turn to gas comes as Vietnam has pub- Total have been diversifying away from upstream
lished radical new plans to abandon 15 GW of activities as demand for oil has slumped this
planned coal power projects over the next 10 year.™

Queensland unveils new gas royalty model

AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA’S Queensland State has unveiled a and locked in for five years.” The model comes
new natural gas royalty model that will adopt a at the recommendation of a working group that
volume-based approach to calculating payments was independently chaired by former South
rather being index-based. Australian Premier Jay Weatherill. The group
The volume-based model will see royalties examined different royalty models and con-
calculated on the volume of gas produced and cluded that the current royalty regime was not
will include a sliding rate scale and produc- suitable for the existing configuration of the
ers’ sales revenue. The new mechanism will be Queensland gas industry.
locked in place for five years, though industry The Queensland Resources Council (QRC)
has already called for the Labor government to has welcomed the shift to using “actual sales
match the election pledge of a 10-year lock-in by rather than an index for calculating gas roy-
the Liberal-National Party opposition. alties” and has hailed the fact that the model
Treasurer and Minister for Infrastructure would offer lower rates for domestic production.
and Planning Cameron Dick said on June 8 However, while it “noted” the five-year royalty
that the new volume-based model would sup- freeze, it said more could be done to ensure sec-
port affordable supply for domestic customers, tor stability.
appropriate returns for Queenslanders and fair- “The government has recognised that sta-
ness for gas producers. ble royalties provide greater investment and
“Queensland’s gas industry continues to do employment certainty for the resources industry.
the heavy lifting in supplying the gas for domes- The LNP promised 12 months ago, if elected,
tic markets in Eastern states, while also meeting it would stabilise royalties for 10 years,” QRC
the needs of international customers,” he said. chief executive Ian Macfarlane said.
“This review has been crucial in ensuring that The Australian Petroleum Production and
oil and gas companies are treated fairly, and that Exploration Association head, Andrew McCo-
Queenslanders receive their fair share of royal- nville, said clarity on the government’s policy
ties from this important industry. The model is position was important for the upstream indus-
transparent, equitable, administratively simpler try as it planned its next round of investment. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 24 17•June•2020