Three subsea installation companies are in the hunt for a major pipelay contract linked to the second construction phase of Vietnam's Nam Con Son 2 pipeline.

Sources said TechnipFMC, Sapura Energy and a third party are expected to respond later this month to an invitation to bid for a contract comprising the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of 117 kilometres of 26-inch diameter pipeline that will collect and transport gas from the Su Tu Trang field, the Sao Vang–Dai Nguyet fields, and potentially other fields.

The workscope on offer includes several other small components, said sources.

Nam Con Son 2 phase two is a major investment led by PetroVietnam Gas, a publicly listed subsidiary of national oil company PetroVietnam that owns and operates gas pipelines and gas processing plants in Vietnam.

PetroVietnam Gas has said previously that Nam Con Son 2 phase two has an estimated capital budget of US$810 million, and includes the 117-kilometre pipeline, a 65-kilometre onshore pipeline and a gas processing plant at Long Hai, which is understood to be landfall for the subsea pipeline.

Nam Con Son 2 is underpinned by the continued development of the Su Tu Trang gas field, the under-construction Sao Vang-Dai Nguyet fields, and the suspended Ca Rong Do field.

For each of the upstream gas developments, PetroVietnam Gas will be investing in subsea pipeline infrastructure that will connect to Nam Con Son phase two.

For the expansion of Su Tu Trang, PetroVietnam Gas has said it intends to invest $139 million on a 75-kilometre subsea line, while for Sao Vang-Dai Nguyet it is looking at a $140 million capital outlay for a 50-kilometre subsea line.

It is also looking at an estimated $168 million investment for a 90-kilometre subsea link for Ca Rong Do.

Ca Rong Do is suspended, however, due to the Chinese government’s claim that the field is within its territorial jurisdiction.

Sources said there is also a separate invitation to bid for the Sao Vang-Dai Nguyet subsea pipeline, but it could not be confirmed which contractors are pursuing this opportunity. “Phase two is a prominent project of PetroVietnam Gas in the upcoming years, as it aims to stabilise and increase the supply of gas to the south-east regions, thus meeting the increasing demand for gas and gas products of the most dynamic economic sector in the country,” PetroVietnam Gas said previously.

It is understood that gas output from the fields reserved for Nam Con Son 2 phase two will be directed to the Dinh Co 2 gas processing plant, which is being built with a targeted completion date of 2022.

The plant will have an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, 170,000 tonnes of condensate and 200,000 tonnes of ethane. The first phase of the Nam Con Son 2 project was completed a few years ago, and comprised 151 kilometres of subsea pipeline that connected the Thien Ung and Dai Hung fields to the Bach Ho field.

The contractor for phase one was Sapura Energy subsidiary TL Offshore.

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