According to the latest reports, PTT and PetroVietnam will set up a joint working group to coordinate the study. The initial focus of the feasibility study will be on 12 industrial zones in Hi Chi Minh City.

Once the study is completed next year and, should the study show the project’s profitability, PTT and PetroVietnam will set up a JV which will handle the distribution of natural gas to the industrial areas. Expansion to other cities and towns with commercial gas utilisation potential will be conducted later, following more feasibility studies.

In a statement PTT said, “Besides serving as a good starting point for PetroVietnam’s and PTT’s natural gas businesses, this could well be the first time that PTT will venture outside Thailand to invest in gas distribution pipelines. Today’s signing could be the first of several other project milestones between the two countries.”