Chinese and Vietnamese Companies Sign Agreements for Alaska LNG Project Development

Last week, Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) announced that it has signed separate agreements with Chinese and Vietnamese companies regarding the development of the Alaska LNG export project. AGDC and PetroVietnam Gas (PVGAS) signed a memorandum of understanding setting forth the basic principles to collaborate on potential opportunities of AGDC LNG supply to serve LNG import projects in Vietnam, and to evaluate the possibility of upstream resource investment in Alaska. According to the press release, PVGAS, a subsidiary of state-owned PetroVietnam, “is developing LNG receiving and regasification terminals in Vietnam, namely Thi Vai LNG Terminal and Son My LNG Terminal, in order to supply natural gas to newly built and proposed power plants and existing gas users.”

AGDC also signed a joint development agreement with the State of Alaska, China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), CIC Capital Corporation, and Bank of China, “to advance Alaska LNG, Alaska’s strategic gas infrastructure project.” Under the agreement, “the parties have agreed to work cooperatively on LNG marketing, financing, investment model and China content in Alaska LNG, and get a periodic result by 2018.” Analysts opined to Reuters that the China deal “will boost [the Alaska LNG project’s] profile, but does not ensure the $43 billion development will go ahead.”