Vietnam News Agency reported that Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group will join Military Zone 9 to build a 400 kilometers long gas pipeline project in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

Under the MoU, the Military Zone 9 Command will provide services to protect the pipeline in areas under its management during the time of construction and after completion. The command will also be responsible for digging canals and building small bridges crossing Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang provinces and Can Tho City.

The project, which is worth nearly USD 800 million and is invested by PetroVietnam, will supply gas from the Lot B oilfield offshore Phu Quoc Island to gas fuelled electric power plants in the Cuu Long Delta. The gas will feed the Ca Mau Province based gas electricity fertilizer complex and the O Mon Electricity Centre in Can Tho City.

The management board of the southwestern Viet Nam gas project has also signed a contract with PetroVietnam Finance Corporation to arrange capital for the construction of the pipeline project.

Construction on the pipeline, which extends 246 kilometers under sea and 160 kilometers on land, will begin in the four quarter of this year and is expected to be completed in July 2011. The pipeline will have a capacity to transport 2 to 2.5 million tonnes of cubic metres of gas a year.

(Sourced from www.vnagency.com.vn)