Russia keen on investing in Vietnam oil refinery
November 4, 2013, 9:39 am

The oil refinery will have a capacity of almost five times the Dung Quat refinery (pictured) [AP]

A Russian business delegation that visited Vietnam’s central Binh Dinh province last week said the project would require a minimum investment capital of $25 billion.

The PTT Public Company Limited (PTT) of Thailand is the project’s main investor.

The oil refinery complex is set to be operational by 2018.

Igor Soglayev, General Director of Sarvors Company, a unit of Russia’s state-owned oil giant Rosneft, said the company would become PTT’s strategic partners in the project.

Sogolayev was quoted by local Vietnamese media as saying that the refinery would require huge backing from the central and provincial governments.

Such an investment would provide a boost for Vietnam whose GDP rose 5.54 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier.

The oil refinery would have a capacity of 660,000 barrels per day (bpd), or almost five times the current capacity of the only existing facility, the Dung Quat refinery.

The proposed facility could be built in Nhon Hoi, about 1,000 km (620 miles) south of the capital Hanoi.

Russia and Vietnam have close defence ties after the two sides signed an agreement on military technology until 2020.

Meanwhile, Rosneft officials last week in Vietnam assessed the transparency of Nhon Hoi Economic Zone’s investment incentives and infrastructure conditions.

Rosneft President Igor Sechin is expected to accompany President Putin during his visit to Vietnam on November 12.

PTT says the refinery will cost around $28 billion and that they are looking for more investment partners for the project.

The Nhon Hoi complex will be one of the largest oil refinery complexes in Asia once in operation.

With inputs from Agencies