Vietnam’s second $9 billion refinery on track to open in Q3 2017

• PetroVietnam and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. eye strategic partnership

The 200,000 barrel/day refinery in the central province of Thanh Hoa is expected to meet 40 percent of Vietnam’s oil product demand, PetroVietnam said in a statement May 6 while reporting the ongoing visit to Hanoi by Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

PetroVietnam and Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd (KPI) on Friday signed an agreement regarding their cooperation in the Nghi Son project, PetroVietnam said, without providing any details.

Last month, Japan's Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd said it had applied to set up a 50:50 joint venture company with KPI aimed at distributing petroleum products in Vietnam. The new company, which will be called Idemitsu Q8 Petroleum Limited Liability Company, will sell products from the Nghi Son project in Vietnam.

PetroVietnam owns 25.1 percent stake in Nghi Son with KPI and Idemitsu each holding 35.1 percent, and Japanese Mitsui Chemicals 4.7 percent. They began construction of the project in October 2013.

Vietnam’s only 6.5 million ton/year Dung Quat refinery in Quang Ngai central province meets more than 30 percent of the country’s fuel demand.