Nghi Son refinery urged to finalise expansion plan with partners

Nghi Son refinery urged to finalise expansion plan with partners

Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, a joint venture between Petrovietnam, Kuwait Petroleum International, Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan, and Mitsui Chemicals, has been instructed to complete its expansion plan.

Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC plans to expand to the second phase

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked Petrovietnam to work with the joint venture partners and submit a consolidated plan for government review before December. During an official visit to Kuwait on November 18, the PM also met Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), encouraging the expansion of the refinery and the construction of a bonded fuel storage facility in Vietnam.

“The Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC represents a key symbol of bilateral investment. KPC is encouraged to collaborate with Vietnamese partners to address outstanding issues based on ‘harmonised interests and shared risks’ while advancing the expansion,” PM Chinh said.

“The Kuwaiti side should continue supplying Vietnam with stable crude volumes at favourable prices and explore new cooperation projects in green and environmentally friendly energy,” he said.

In addition, in a separate meeting with Oil Minister Al-Roumi, PM Chinh called for the creation of a joint task force to resolve Nghi Son’s pending issues and expand collaboration in upstream activities, crude supply, product trading, maintenance, technical services, and training.

Located in the Nghi Son Economic Zone in Thanh Hoa province, the $9-billion Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC began commercial operations at the end of 2018. Phase 1 has a processing capacity of 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day (equivalent to 10 million tonnes per year) and primarily refines Kuwaiti crude oil.

The project is a joint venture with PetroVietnam holding 25.1 per cent, Kuwait Petroleum International 35.1 per cent, Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan 35.1 per cent, and Mitsui Chemicals 4.7 per cent.

VIR