Speaking at the ceremony, the PM emphasised the role of the pipeline in ensuring Vietnam’s energy security, saving foreign currency, protecting the environment, and linking up with the regional gas pipeline system.

The US$1 billion project, invested by the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN), will include 246 kilometres of pipeline under the sea and 152 kilometres on land passing through Kien Giang, Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, and Hau Giang provinces and the city of Can Tho.

Once completed, the pipeline will supply 18.3 million cubic metres of natural gas per day, (equivalent to 6.4 billion cubic metres/year) to the O Mon, Tra Noc and Ca Mau power plants as well as households in Vietnam’s southwestern region.

The US-based Chevron Group, which holds 43 percent of the shares in a joint venture enterprise to exploit gas offshore the southwest sea, will construct the pipeline under the sea, while PVN is responsible for the overland section.