Haphazard refinery investment may repeat hydropower plant’s mistake
Haphazard refinery investment may repeat hydropower plant’s mistake
With a number of new oil refinery and petrochemical plants planned to be built in the coming years, many experts are concerned that Vietnam will become a place where foreign investors dump their obsolete technology, as has happened with hydropower plants across the country.
While many other countries are seeking alternative energies or biofuel products, Vietnam is boosting refinery investment, which experts say will cause a number of disadvantages for the country if not appropriately assessed.
Doctor Nguyen Dong Hai, a seasoned oil and gas expert, warned that Vietnam’s crude oil reserves are running out, and future refineries may have to import crude oils for treatment.
“So what will we benefit from this?” he asked.
Vietnam has been exploiting crude oil from Bach Ho (White Tiger), one of the country’s largest refineries, over the last 25 years, Hai said.
The expert also warned of the possibility that foreign investors will take advantage of the Vietnamese facilities to avoid pollution in their own countries.
“The investors will also consider Vietnam a place to dump their outdated technology,” he added.
In fact, it is planned that most of the future refineries will use imported crude oil from the Middle East, Africa, and South and Central America.
Dung Quat, the country’s sole refinery so far, is the only facility to use a domestic source of oil.
Economic expert Le Dang Doanh also called on the government to consider factors like pollution, supply surplus, and the world’s energy trend before approving new refinery projects.
“With only Dung Quat in operation, we have already faced a number of challenges,” he said.
While Dung Quat is currently Vietnam’s sole oil refinery, the country will be home to a total of seven such facilities in the next few years, the total capacity of which is much greater than the nation’s current demand.
Many oil refinery and petrochemical projects worth billions of US dollars have obtained the agreement in principle from local authorities for their investment, raising experts’ concerns.
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