Vung Ro - the third refinery project in Vietnam kicks off

Vietnam has begun construction of Vung Ro oil refinery and petrochemical project in Phu Yen province in the Southern Central Coast of Vietnam. The project, which has an investment of nearly $3.2 billion, is designed to have a capacity of refining 8 million tons of crude per year, and cover an area of 538 hectares, including the area to develop a supporting seaport, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Groundbreaking Ceremony of Vung Ro Refinery & Petrochemical Project in the south central coast province Phu Yen.

The refinery configuration allows producing fuel products of high quality (LPG, Gasoline RON 92/95, Jet Fuel, Diesel, Fuel Oil) and petrochemical products (Benzene, Toluene, Mixed Xylene, Polypropylene). The products are said to satisfy both current Vietnam specifications and international standards.

Product Slates	VRP Blend (Yield, TPA)	Arabian Light (Yield, TPA)
LPG	388,293	236,307
Gasoline RON 92/95	2,168,403	2,011,559
Jet Fuel	665,546	528,828
Diesel	2,633,036	2,398,811
Fuel Oil	0	867,500
Benzene	73,217	44,069
Toluene	182,869	169,336
Mixed Xylenes	349,082	311,953
Polypropylene	564,222	390,375
Sulfur	7,981	94,037
Total	7,032,649	7,052,775

Source: VRP website

Upon completion, the refinery is expected to create around 1,300 jobs, not to mentioned around 15,000 headcounts shall involve in the construction period and around US$ 110 million of various taxes shall be paid per annum.

General layout of Vung Ro Refinery & Petrochemical Complex. Source: VRP

This is the third refinery project launched in Vietnam, after the Dungquat refinery operating since 2009 and the Nghi Son refinery being now under construction. The latest news from Binh Dinh Province Authority on 11^th Sept 2014 also revealed that detailed ffeasibilitystudy for the US$ 22 billion refinery project of 400,000 bpd has been submitted to Vietnam Ministry of  Industry and Trade for consideration. This project is invested by Thailand-based PTT Group and Saudi Aramco Group and is expected to be joined by other partners.

Under the circumstances of several refineries to come on stream in the next few years, including the fact that the current Dung Quat refinery is working on upgrade and expansion plan, experts foresee the situation of fuel supply exceeding domestic demand; then there’s a high possibility that Vietnam would become a petroleum exporter in the future.