The system will receive gas from offshore Ham Rong and Thai Binh fields in the Gulf of Tonkin and supply it to nearby industrial zones and consumers.
According to PVN, the system is accompanied by a US$165.84 million project comprising one wellhead platform and two wells to extract gas from the Thai Binh field.
The collection system, built at a cost of US$90 million, consists of 25 kilometres of pipeline with an annual capacity of 200 million cubic metres of gas in the first stage, which will be raised to 540 million cubic metres in the later phase.
Meanwhile the compressed natural gas pipeline is 2 kilometres long and costs US$62 million. It has an annual capacity of 130-140 million cubic metres.
The project is expected to contribute US$100 million to the state budget over the next ten years and reduce the need for foreign currency to import fuel oil, diesel oil and liquefied petroleum gas while also helping cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said this was an important milestone in the development of infrastructure for the natural gas industry in the northern region.
He asked the owner and operator to make every effort to ensure the system would work in a safe and efficient manner.
In 2011 the prime minister approved the natural gas industry development plan with the aim of extracting 15-19 billion cubic metres annually during the 2016-2025 period.
