Deputy head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission and Chairman of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group’s Member Council Tran Sy Thanh held a working session with authorities of the central province of Quang Nam on March 1 to discuss the launch of Blue Whale gas field project – the largest of its kind in Vietnam. 

The project, lying in Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in Tam Quang commune, Nui Thanh district, is expected to be launched this year with the first flow of gas brought ashore by late 2023.

A central processing platform will be built off block 118, about 90 km from Quang Nam. Gas will be filtered at its plant in Tam Quang commune, Nui Thanh district, and will be supplied to four power plants with a total capacity of 3,000MW under the approved master plan on gas and electricity in the central region. 

The gas field is expected to earn nearly 60 billion USD, add 1 billion USD to the local state budget and generate jobs for 3,000-4,000 skilled workers. 

Huynh Khanh Toan, head of the management board of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, said the province has zoned off nearly 3,000 ha for concentrated industrial zones. Once investors are ready to embark on projects, the locality will hand over a clean site to them. 

Thanh lauded the provincial authorities’ drastic action on site clearance to ensure the project will be launched as soon as possible. 

He asked units concerned to ensure the project’s progress to contribute to socio-economic development in the southern central region

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Phan Viet Cuong said it will be the largest scale project to be launched in Quang Nam. He suggested that both sides should devise specific measures regarding human resources and urban development. 

Earlier, the delegation paid a fact-finding trip for the project and presented 15 billion VND  (650,000 USD) to social welfare work in the province.–VNA