Vietnam Issues License for New Oil Refinery

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

Hanoi, 21 May: Vietnam has issued license to the development of an oil refinery with annual capacity of 2m tons of crude oil in southern Can Tho city with investment of 538m dollars, a local official told Xinhua on Wednesday [21 May].

The project’s developer, Can Tho Oil Refinery Company Ltd – a joint venture between a Vietnamese firm and a US partner, is expected to start the construction of the oil refinery, whose products include petroleum, liquefied petroleum gas, diesel oil and naphtha, in the city this year, said Bui Ngoc Vi, chairperson of the Economic Bureau under the Can Tho People’s Committee.

To feed the refinery, Can Tho Oil Refinery Company will mainly use crude oil exploited in Vietnam, and import a small amount of the material, she noted.

Vietnam is building its first two oil refineries, Dung Quat in central Quang Ngai province and Nghi Son in northern Thanh Hoa province, whose major investor is state-owned Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam). Nghi Son has initial investment of 6. 2bn dollars and annual capacity of 10m tons of crude oil, and Dung Quat, Vietnam’s first refinery with an annual processing capacity of 6.5m tons, will become operational early next year.

Vietnam imported nearly 4.7m tons of petroleum products worth roughly 3.8bn dollars in the first four months of 2008, posting respective year-on-year rises of eight per cent and 70.2 per cent, according to the country’s General Statistics Office.

Originally published by Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0419 21 May 08.

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