Vietnam: Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical (BSR) earns profit after tax of 292 million USD in 2021

At the end of 2021, BSR who operates the Dung Quat Oil Refinery located in Central Vietnam reported a profit after tax of VND 6,673 billion (~292 million USD) vs a loss of VND 2,858 billion billion (~125 million USD) in the same period last year.

Dung Quat Oil Refinery

Vietnam: Biggest Oil Refinery Cuts Down Production, Local Market Suffers Fuel Shortage

Commencing production in 2018, Vietnam’s biggest refinery Nghi Son has suffered an accumulated loss of 61,200 billion VND (~ 2,683 million USD) in its first 3 years of operation. In lack of money to import crude oil, the refinery announced in Jan 2022 to cut down its production capacity to 80% from the peak of 105%.

Nghi Son Oil Refinery and Petrochemical 

[VNA] Falling oil price and impacts on Vietnam’s economy

The sharp decrease in world oil price over the past three months is expected to affect Vietnam’s oil export earnings as well as a wide range of socio-economic aspects.

  

As the budget revenue estimate for 2015 was calculated based on the oil price of around 100 USD per barrel, the Government recently had to convene a meeting to discuss ways to respond to this trend.

The meeting agreed that with the low world price, it is inevitable that the country would have to reduce output and even suspend production at some wells where pumping cost is high.

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.

Dungquat’s refinery upgrade and expansion plan estimated to cost $2 billion

PetroVietnam Deputy General Director Le Manh Hung acknowledged during a recent meeting with the Authority of Quang Ngai, where the Dungquat refinery is located, that the plan to upgrade and expand this refinery shall be kicked off in Q.1 2015, clear site should be available in Q2 2016, and construction will commence in Q.3 2017 and expectedly complete in 2021.

The upgrade and expansion plan is estimated to cost between 1.8 to 2 billion USD and shall raise the refinery’s annual capacity from the current 6.5 million tons of crude oil to 10 million tons.

Surroundings of the current refinery

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. 

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.

JGC led JV Awarded Contract for Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in Vietnam

Jan 2013

               

Yokohama Japan – JGC Corporation (JGC), Chiyoda Corporation (Chiyoda), Technip, and South Korean contractors GS Engineering & Construction (GS) and SK Engineering & Construction (SK) today jointly announced that the joint venture, formed by JGC, Chiyoda, Technip, GS and SK, has received notification of the award of a contract for the Nghi Son refinery and petrochemicals complex in the Nghi Son economic zone in northern Vietnam. The contract was awarded by the Nghi Son Refinery Petrochemical Limited Liability Company, a joint venture between Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd (35.1%), Kuwait Petroleum International (35.1%), Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (25.0%), and Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (4.8%). The lump-sum turnkey contract calls for the engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) and commissioning work for an oil refinery with a production capacity of 200,000 barrels per day. The complex, scheduled for completion in late 2016, will be located in the Thanh Hoa Province in Vietnam, 200 km south of the capital city of Hanoi. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

This project, which is being promoted by Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., Kuwait Petroleum International, Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation, and Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. is a grassroots oil refinery and petrochemical complex project in Vietnam. This project will be the second constructed in Vietnam, and is aimed at satisfying increasing demands for petroleum products to support the progress of Vietnam's motorization, as well as produce petrochemicals for export. Together with Vietnam's first refinery, the Dung Quat refinery (constructed by a consortium of JGC, Technip and others, and completed in 2009), the Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical complex will be a major pillar supporting the country's economic development.

JGC has been targeting marketing activities toward Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, and has been concurrently working on strengthening and expanding JGC Vietnam, an EPC subsidiary of JGC established in Vietnam in 2009. Part of JGC's portion of this project is scheduled to be constructed by JGC Vietnam.

JGC plans to become involved in many more oil refining and petrochemicals projects in Vietnam in the future. JGC has been responsible for the construction of more than fifty oil refineries, and JGC and JGC Vietnam are focusing marketing activities on Southeast Asia in hopes of contributing to building Vietnam's industrial base and furthering economic development.

Source: JGC

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