Vietnam Government Approves Petrolimex's 214,000-Barrel Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex) (Hanoi), the country's largest oil and petrochemical producer, has said that it has received approval from the government to set up the Nam Van Phong Petrochemical Complex. The proposed refinery will be built in Khanh Hoa province with a refining capacity of 214,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) at an initial investment of $4.8 billion. The government will have a stake of less than 30% in the refinery. Petrolimex is keen on partnering with foreign companies that can invest in the project and also enable the project to secure crude oil for the project in the future.

The Nam Van Phong refinery will be the seventh of its kind in Vietnam and is expected to be commissioned by 2013. The refinery will be built on 600 hectares about 1,200 kilometers south of Hanoi. The downstream plant will be designed to output polypropylene, benzene, liquefied petroleum gas, high-octane unleaded gasoline, kerosene and diesel. The products will primarily cater to the domestic market, and excess products will be exported.

The government has given Petrolimex permission to start the technical feasibility study for the proposed refinery. The government has emphasized that the report cover areas such as environmental impact, partner selection for crude oil sourcing and other equipment, usage of modern technologies, and capital resources. The focus will also be on socioeconomic development in the region, and how the company can efficiently use land and seaports. The province's People's Committee and the management board of the Van Phong Economic Zone will provide suggestions on these areas to the government.

Vietnam is currently Southeast Asia's third largest crude oil producer. The country has initiated plans to construct seven refineries with a total processing capacity of 1.28 million BBL/d-1.5 million BBL/d of crude oil every year. The $2.5 billion Dong Quat refinery in Quang Ngai Province, with a refining capacity of about 139,000 BBL/d, is scheduled to be commissioned in February this year. Slated to start operations at 50% of processing capacity, it will achieve 100% by year's end. The Nghi Son refinery, the country's second oil refinery, is under construction. With a refining capacity of 150,000 BBL/d and an outlay of $2.5 billion, the refinery is being built by the state-owned Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) (Hanoi) in a joint venture with foreign companies. PetroVietnam is also involved in constructing the third refinery at Ba Ria Vung Tau province. All the other refinery projects are in the early planning stages.

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