The first phase of PetroVietnam’s biggest project yet, Nam Con Son 2 Gas Pipeline in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, is set to come on-line by mid next year, the Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) reported.

The pipeline, invested in by PV Gas – a subsidiary of state-run PetroVietnam – consists of two parts, offshore and onshore.

The first phase is a 151km underwater route from Thien Ung platform to Bach Ho oil field. This phase is expected to finish by June 2015.

The second phase, to be undertaken later, is a pipeline from Bach Ho oil field to onshore Phu My gas processing plant.

The Nam Con Son 2 pipeline is planned to play an important role in collecting gas from the Hai Thach, Moc Tinh, and Thien Ung-Mang Cau fields of the Nam Con Son basin and transport it onto land for consumers in the southern region.

The estimated cost for the entire project is 1.3 billion USD. The price tag for the first phase is 402 million USD. The project got a 280 million USD loan from a foreign bank consortium led by Cathay United Bank in July.

According to CEO of PetroVietnam Do Van Hau, the Nam Con Son 2 Gas Pipeline Project is the group’s most challenging and largest project to date, requiring close and urgent cooperation among member companies.

The pipeline has been listed as a national priority for oil and gas development, and is expected to advance the infrastructure of Vietnam’s gas industry toward 2025. This is also the largest and most technically complicated project yet undertaken by any Vietnamese company.

The first Nam Con Son Pipeline project was put into operation in 2003 via a contract between PetroVietnam, Rosnef and ConocoPhillips.

The pipeline is transporting gas and condensate from Lan Tay and Lan Do oil fields to the Dinh Co Terminal and further on to the Phu My Power Complex (gas) and Thi Vai Terminal (condensate).

The system includes a pipeline (339km offshore and onshore), the Dinh Co Gas Processing Terminal and a metering station at the Phu My Power Complex in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

In 2013, after 10 years of safe and reliable operations, it celebrated the delivery of its 50 billionth cubic metre of gas and 2.6 millionth cubic metre of condensate.-VNA