TNK upbeat on business in Vietnam

Hugh J. Mcintosh, TNK Vietnam’s president and general director, stressed: “We are quite satisfied with the buyout of BP’s shares because it help us access business opportunities in Vietnam.”

“The assets, relations with the Government and partners, and skills that we inherited from BP all help laying a firm foundation for us to go further here,” he told the Daily on Monday.

TNK Vietnam has 32.6 pct of equities in the Nam Con Son Pipeline, which has also achieved 10 years of safe operations in processing and transporting about 45 billion cubic meters of gas from Blocks 06.1, 11.2, and 12W to Phu My and Nhon Trach industrial parks for power generation.

Hoang Minh, general director of Nam Con Son Pipeline Company (NCSP), added: “We highly appreciate TNK’s commitment to develop the country’s energy sector.”

Nam Con Son pipeline is an important part of the Nam Con Son gas project, one of the biggest foreign-invested projects in Vietnam with total investment capital of USS1.3 billion.

The Nam Con Son pipeline contributes to some 30 pct of total electricity demand in Vietnam. “I am so proud to say that NCSP has not only brought benefits to NCSP partners but also greatly contributed to the process of industrialization and modernization of Vietnam,” said Minh.

Minh revealed the Government’s plan to build the Nam Con Son second project worth $1.3 billion in the coming time. Mcintosh, however, refused to comment on TNK’s involvement. “It is still confidential,” he said.

TNK Vietnam is part of TNK-BP Group, a 50/50 joint venture between BP of the UK and the AAR (Alfa Group/Access Industries/Renova) consortium of Russia. TNK Vietnam is involved in oil and gas exploration and production and entered Vietnam through the acquisition of BP’s upstream assets in October 2010.

Licensed to operate in Vietnam in October 2011, TNK Vietnam is operating a gas and condensate production project from Block 06.1, consisting of Lan Tay and Lan Do fields, and supplies about 22 pct of gas for Vietnam’s electricity generation.