Vietnam to build second oil refinery

Foreign investors will own most of the US$9 billion refinery, however.

The Nghi Sơn refinery in Thanh Hoa province 112 miles south of Hanoi will be able to process 10 million tons of crude a year. Kuwait will provide feedstock for the refinery.

State-owned PetroVietnam will own a 25.1% stake in the refinery while Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan and Kuwait Petroleum International will each hold a 35.1% stake. Mitsui Chemicals of Japan will hold the remaining 4.7%.

The refinery’s first phase will have an oil processing capacity of 200,000 barrels per day when operational while production will double to 400,000 bbl/d after phase two is complete.

This will be Vietnam’s second refinery and the first one with participation from foreign investors. The Dung Quat Oil Refinery, Vietnam’s first, became operational in 2009, with a capacity of 6.5 million tons of material crude oil per year. The two refineries combined will meet 65% of Vietnam’s oil and gas needs.