Dung Quat refinery’s expansion project: Amec Foster Wheeler wins FEED contract

Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Contract worth of USD 25.6 million was inked on 28^th August 2015  between representatives of  Binh Son Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Company (BSR - the operator of Dungquat refinery  - a subsidiary of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group) and  English-based Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Company Limited  for the upgrade and expansion of Dung Quat oil refinery based in Quang Ngai Province. 

Dung Quat Refinery expansion plan fixed at 8.5 mln tons of crude and investment of USD 1.82 billion

After much study and calibration, the ambitious plan to expand and upgrade the Dung Quat oil refinery based in Dung Quat Economic Zone of central coastal Quang Ngai province has been eventually fixed and ratified by an Investment Certificate issued by the local government. The target capacity is announced to be 8.5 million tons of crude per year (192,000 barrels per day),  lower than the figure of 10 million tons as tentatively publicized previously. The total cost for this plan is said to be roughly 1.81 billion USD, 30% of which shall be contributed by the involved partner(s) and the remaining 70% shall comes from loans, according to a news article from PVN/BSR.

A ceremony was organized on 23rd Jan 2015 at Dungquat EZ to officially announce the expansion project.

150,000 DWT oil tanker accesses Dungquat SPM

According to news released by PVN, on 23^rd August 2014, Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR) successfully received crude oil tanker of 150,000 DWT to import 1 million barrels of AZERI crude oil from Azerbaijan through the Single Point Mooring (SPM) system of Dung Quat Oil Refinery. This is the biggest first-ever oil tanker accessing this facility after 5 years of operation; in the past, only tankers of up to 110,000 DWT could visit here.

During the 2^nd overall maintenance of the refinery which lasted 57 days, nearly 7,000 items were done with the involvement of 3,400 professional staffs of BSR, contractors, partners. It was divided into 5 main packages, notably the the package 4 was implemented by BSR themselves including the maintenance of rotating equipment, electrical equipment, automation equipment, a number of simple static devices and oil pipelines. Meanwhile, the repair of defects for thermal expansion joints EX-101 in RFCC workshop was conducted by Technip/JGC contractor (EPC contractor of Dung Quat Oil Refinery Plant) and connection of awaiting ends for SRU 2 project was implemented by JGC contractor.

The first 150,000 DWT Oil Tanker at Dungquat SPM. Photo courtesy: PVN

Following the successful maintenance and upgrading of single-point mooring buoy, BSR imported the first crude oil from tanker of 150,000 DWT instead of 110,000 DWT previously. At transformation cost of US$ 300,000 only, SPM system has been improved to receive crude oil vessels of double capacity from Aframax vessel size (80,000 - 110,000 DWT) to Suezmax vessel size (150,000 DWT). Currently, BSR is capable of receiving crude oil from different regions of the world such as West Africa, the Mediterranean ... to help diversify sources of crude oil for processing at Dung Quat Oil Refinery, improving efficiency, reducing production costs and saving USD 10-15 million .

It was the 398^th crude oil vessel received BSR through this SPM since the plant was put into operation in 2009, with totally 31,288,140 million tons of crude oil handled, approximately 27,985,737 tons of products refined.

Russia to sell Vietnam more military hardware

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country is going to increase the assortment of military hardware it sells to the Vietnamese army.

The announcement comes on the heels of Putin’s one-day trip to Hanoi where he met with President Truong Tan Sang and other leaders.

The Russian president has said the two nations today signed a new military deal that will see Russia train Vietnamese navy and armed forces.

Russian firms Rosneft and Gazprom also signed a raft of deals with state energy firm Petrovietnam tackling oil exploration and modernization of Vietnam’s oil refinery.

Putin said Gazprom was to supply the Dung Quat refinery with oil and help it market the produce.

Moscow has also promised to help Hanoi develop its nascent energy industry, building a nuclear energy plant and training its atomic experts. Russia will take part in creating the country’s first Center of Nuclear Science and Technology.

The countries concluded a package of cooperation contracts in ecology, healthcare and industry, including textile manufacturing.

In the meanwhile, the International Investment Bank and the Vietnamese Investment bank have agreed a $50 million loan to Vietnam to boost its small business.

Source: Voice of Russia