PetroVietnam Gas GAS.HM said on Monday it had received a certificate from local authorities to become the country’s first company eligible to import and export liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The certificate from the Ministry of Industry and Trade will allow the company to make its first LNG imports this year, the company said in a statement.

PetroVietnam Gas said it had completed the construction of an LNG terminal in the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau with an initial capacity of one million tonnes of LNG a year. It aims to raise the capacity to three million tonnes.

Last month, the company issued a tender seeking to buy Vietnam’s first LNG cargo of 50,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes to test run the terminal.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Khanh Vu, Editing by Louise Heavens and Barbara Lewis)