Vietnam’s Petrolimex closes MoU with JX Nippon Oil and Energy on refinery project
Vietnam’s Petrolimex closes MoU with JX Nippon Oil and Energy on refinery project
Vietnam's leading oil and gas company and Japan’s top oil refiner signed last week a memorandum of understanding on a bilateral strategic cooperation, including the construction of an oil refinery in the south-central region.
The Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) and JX Nippon Oil and Energy (JX NOE) closed the MoU in Hanoi on Friday, the Vietnamese company said on its website the same day.
Under the memorandum, the two parties will speed up processes for the Tokyo-based company to become Petrolimex’s strategic partner by buying stakes in the firm.
Petrolimex and JX NOE will also establish a joint venture to implement the project to build the Nam Van Phong oil refinery complex in the Van Phong economic zone in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa.
The project has been approved by the Vietnamese Prime Minister under a directive signed on July 31, 2009, according to Petrolimex.
Petrolimex and JX NOE have proposed several solutions to realize the project to the Vietnamese government and Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnamese company said.
“This is a project that opens a new stage of development for Petrolimex and JX NOE,” it said.
Petrolimex has had plans to issue shares to increase capital and set up a joint venture with JX NOE in mid-2015.
The Nam Van Phong oil refinery is expected to have a capacity of 10 million tons a year, according to the Vietnamese trade ministry.
The project failed to begin on schedule, even though Petrolimex had previously planned to cooperate with South Korea’s Dealim for its implementation.
