E1, an importer and distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) under the Republic of Korea’s LS Group. announced on February 21 that it has signed a joint contract with Venus Gas, the largest LPG importer in northern Vietnam, to build an LPG terminal in Bac Tien Phong industrial complex in Vietnam's northern coastal province of Quang Ninh.

The facility will have a capacity of 50,000 tonnes of propane and 30,000 tonnes of butane. Construction on the project is expected to kick off in the first half of this year for the warehouse to be put into operate commercially in 2025. E1 plans to supply more than 1 million tonnes of LPG annually to the Vietnamese market.  

Previously, the Korean company bought 50% stake of Yen Hung Petrochemical Joint Venture in September 2022 to prepare for the construction of the Bac Tien Phong LPG gas storage facility. 

E1 has also announced a decision to grant a new debt guarantee worth about 256.7 billion KRW (over 192.3 million USD) to Yen Hung Petrochemical Joint Stock Company. This equates to 16.99% of equity. Debt guarantee facilitates the raising of capital by allowing the parent company to assist when the subsidiary encounters difficulties in repaying debts.

Recently, the Vietnamese government has announced plans to expand crude oil and petroleum product storage capacity nationwide to stabilise commercial oil infrastructure. This is expected to increase the demand for LPG imports.

An executive from E1 said that the Southeast Asia region has a huge demand for LPG but it lacks large-scale storage terminals. Therefore, E1 will apply its expertise and know-how accumulated in its four decades of experience to carry out this project./.VNA