Vietnam’s Dung Quat refinery needs US$2 billion investment to increase capacity

The Dau Tu, a state-run newspaper,said that Dung Quat, Vietnam’s only oil refinery, needs more than US$2 billion of investments to expand its processing capacity to 192,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 9.5 million tons per year. The expansion plan would include a new crude processing unit which could process heavier crude oil from the Middle East or Venezuela. Vietnam hired JGC Corporation to conduct a feasibility study on the expansion of the refinery because it wants to boost local production. Dung Quat, which has a current capacity of 149,000 bpd, mainly refines light sweet Bach Ho crude. It currently supplies a third of domestic demand. (April 13, 2012)