Vietnam Daily News

New refinery may cost up to $10b, says PetroVietnam

Written by Dailynews.vn Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:23

Construction of Vietnam's second refinery may cost $8 billion-$10 billion, higher than an earlier estimate of $7 billion, an executive with state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PetroVietnam, said Friday.

PetroVietnam is asking the government to introduce incentives to attract funds for construction of the 200,000-barrel-a-day Nghi Son refinery, 180 kilometers south of Hanoi, deputy Chief Executive Nguyen Quoc Thap said in a statement posted on the company's website.

The partners in Nghi Son refinery are Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Kuwait Petroleum International, each with a 35.1 percent stake; Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp., or PetroVietnam, with 25.1 percent; and Mitsui Chemicals Inc., with 4.7 percent. KPI is a unit of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp.

The plan to build the refinery has been delayed several times due to financing problems and a possible walkout by the Kuwaiti partner.

"Kuwait has not made up its mind whether to go ahead with the project or not," a person familiar with the situation said last month, citing concerns that the refinery may not be able to compete with major refiners in neighbouring countries.

Idemitsu Kosan Co. said last month that it aims to make a final investment decision on the project by the end of March.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/petrovietnam-new-refinery-may-cost-up-to-10 billion-2011-12-15?reflink= MW_news_stmp

Source: www.intellasia.net/news/articles/business/111351423.shtml