JX Nippon will not participate in expanding Dung Quat refinery

Hoai Giang, general director of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company (BSR) and plant operator of Dung Quat refinery, said that Japan’s JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. has declined to participate in a project to expand the Dung Quat oil refinery for undisclosed reasons. The refinery is Vietnam’s first plant in the central province of Quang Ngai. The expansion project is expected to be completed in 2019 and will need investments of US$2-3 billion. The expansion is expected to raise the plant’s annual production capacity to 10 million tons of crude oil per year, from the current 6.5 million tons or 135,000 barrels per day.
The Dung Quat refinery, after a four-year construction period, which cost of US$3.05 billion, has been operating since February 2009, supplying around 33% of local demand for petroleum products. It is expected to meet 40% to 45% of domestic demand after the expansion.
According to Giang, the two other foreign partners, SK Energy of South Korea and Venezuela’s state oil group PDVSA, are still interested in the expansion project, aside from the state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, (PetroVietnam). Giang said he is offering a 49% stake in the plant to source funds for its expansion. (November 23, 2012)