Natural gas in Vietnam

Natural gas in Vietnam is a major component of energy infrastructure and policy in Vietnam. Though Vietnam has domestic production of gas, Vietnam has not historically been a heavy user of natural gas, with limited reserves used for domestic applications such as heating, cooking and power. However, natural gas has been increasingly included in policy and energy mix alongside renewables as part of the phase out of coal. According to a 2023 estimate by the IEA, less than 6.3% of the total energy mix in Vietnam was provided by natural gas. Since 2020, this has been a 479% increase in total usage by volume.

The increase in usage of natural gas has primarily been as part of a policy of using liquefied natural gas to substitute for coal, with the goal of reducing overall emissions of the energy sector. However, despite a goal to reduce coal imports, they have continued to increase while natural gas use expands resulting in increased overall emissions. Changes in the energy mix and policy are dictated in Vietnam by the national, revised as the 2025 Power Development Plan 8 (2025 PDP8) and the 2024 Electricity Law both which favor renewables, but also include an increase from 0.8 GW to 22.5 GW of imported LNG capacity by 2030.

Energy analysts evaluating the enthusiasm for LNG in policy note that there hasn't been support for long-term financially viable natural gas markets; it could be more cost effective to install the capacity with renewables, like solar, wind and batteries. Additionally climate policy tracking organizations, have described the policy framework as insufficient for the Nationally Determined Contribution, and increasing the risks of stranded asset and locking in fossil fuel infrastructure for more than 30 years.

In the short term, the implementation of the revised plan implies a significant expansion of natural gas infrastructure, including gas power plants, LNG terminals and gas pipelines. However, as of late 2025 delays in building infrastructure, and global shortages of gas turbines had lead to significant delays in installed capacity for generating energy from the gas, likely leading to further delays in meeting 2030 LNG-fired gas plant activation goals. Shortages caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the 2026 War in Iran likely will further effect the LNG import market in Vietnam.