PV Gas: Celebrating 35 Years of Innovation and Technological Excellence in Vietnam’s Gas Sector

Over the past 35 years of establishment and development (1990-2025), PV Gas, a subsidiary of the state-owned giant Petrovietnam, has affirmed its pioneering position in Vietnam’s gas industry, marked by a series of groundbreaking achievements in science and technology.

From its early days with the mission of collecting, transporting, and processing associated gas, PV Gas has proactively approached, mastered, and developed advanced technologies, successfully implementing many large-scale projects that contribute to national energy security and sustainable socio-economic development.

Shortly after its establishment, PV Gas implemented the “fast-track” onshore gas delivery project of the Bach Ho gas system, which was later expanded into the Cuu Long Basin gas system by leveraging reservoir pressure and optimizing flow regimes. This solution completely ended the flaring of associated gas, saving precious natural resources, protecting the marine environment, and supplying gas to the Ba Ria Thermal Power Plant.

This success laid the foundation for the formation of Vietnam’s gas industry and opened a path for modern gas extraction and transportation technologies.

PV Gas made a major leap in gas processing with the Dinh Co Gas Processing Plant, which was officially commissioned on July 9, 1999. It was the first plant in Vietnam to apply deep refrigeration, low-temperature condensation, Turbo Expander, and Joule-Thomson valves, integrating heat exchange technology to enhance recovery efficiency of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate from fields in the Cuu Long Basin.

This marked a significant technological advancement, improving the efficiency of liquid recovery and maximizing the value of extracted products.

Building on this foundation, PV Gas invested in and put into operation the Nam Con Son Gas Processing Plant, the largest in Vietnam. In December 2002, the first gas flow from the Nam Con Son Basin reached onshore consumers, significantly increasing PV Gas’s gas supply to the market. As of August 2025, the Nam Con Son gas system has safely transported 110 billion cubic meters of gas.

In 2017, under the southern gas development strategy, PV Gas commissioned the Ca Mau Gas Processing Plant (GPP Ca Mau), applying Ortloff’s patented SCORE technology—a combination of heat exchange, deep refrigeration, condensation, and turbo expansion to maximize the recovery of high-value liquid products from the PM3 – 46 Cai Nuoc gas system in the southwestern region.

In transportation, PV Gas designed and operated the Nam Con Son pipeline, the world’s longest dual-phase pipeline at the time, capable of transporting both natural gas and condensate from offshore fields to shore. The success of this project demonstrated Vietnam’s capacity in designing, constructing, and operating complex offshore-onshore gas infrastructure, asserting its technical standing in the global gas industry.

As the energy transition accelerates, PV Gas continues its pioneering role with the construction and operation of Thi Vai LNG Terminal, the first LNG terminal in Vietnam. This facility marks the beginning of LNG import and usage in the country, playing a central role in ensuring energy security and aligning with emission reduction and sustainability goals.

PV Gas is also expanding its LNG infrastructure in strategic regions in northern and north-central Vietnam, combined with multi-modal transport models (pipeline, waterway, road, and rail) to enhance flexibility and market responsiveness.

Besides adopting advanced foreign technologies, PV Gas has emphasized in-house innovation. Numerous technical improvement solutions and operational optimizations have been successfully researched and applied, enhancing productivity, reducing costs, and ensuring absolute safety for the national gas system.

Notable solutions include controlling water content in the gas-condensate stream from Block 06.1, supplying permeate gas from GPP Ca Mau to Ca Mau Fertilizer Plant, quality control for Thien Ung gas and condensate, and liquid management in dual-phase pipelines of the Nam Con Son 2 gas system. These innovations have been honored with the Vietnam Fund for Supporting Technological Creations (VIFOTEC) Award and various industry awards, generating annual economic benefits of tens of billions of VND (VND10 billion = $379,636).

From 2020 to 2025, the innovation movement at PV Gas yielded 724 unit-level initiatives and 119 corporation-level initiatives, with total estimated benefits of over VND1,700 billion ($64.54 million), excluding unmonetized initiatives. These initiatives have been effectively applied, contributing to safe and continuous gas operations, cost savings, waste prevention, and enhanced business performance.

With a 35-year track record of safe, efficient, and reliable gas infrastructure operation, PV Gas has become a model of technical and technological governance. Its engineers and experts continuously master technologies, develop internal standards for gas products, and contribute to the formulation of Vietnamese standards and national technical regulations on natural gas, LNG, and gas pipelines.

PV Gas’s outstanding contributions in science and technology have been honored with numerous prestigious awards from the Party, State, and Government, including First, Second, and Third-class Labor Orders; Second and Third-class Independence Orders; Third-class Feat of Arms Order; Hero of Labor title; and national emulation flags and science-technology innovation awards.

The 35-year journey of PV Gas is a clear testament to its capacity for innovation, adaptability, and technological mastery. From mastering complex technologies in gas extraction, transportation, and processing to deploying modern LNG infrastructure and developing an integrated energy supply chain, it has brought Vietnam’s gas science and technology closer to international standards, ready to meet the demands of a modern, environmentally friendly, and deeply integrated energy industry.