Vietnam's biggest oil refinery to run at full capacity, ensure fuel supplies

Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemicals, Vietnam's largest, will operate at full capacity in the fourth quarter to assure stable supplies of petroleum products in the domestic market.

The oil refinery has committed to the Ministry of Industry and Trade that it would supply about 2.4 - 2.5 million cubic meters of fuel products in Q4.

The commitment was made in response to an October 13 letter from the ministry asking the refinery to maximize its capacity.

“We believe that this quantity will contribute to stabilizing fuel supplies for the Vietnamese market," the refinery said Tuesday.

Located in the central province of Thanh Hoa, the $9 billion refinery with a capacity of 200,000 barrels per day, is 35.1% owned by Japan's Idemitsu Kosan, 35.1% by Kuwait Petroleum, 25.1% by state-run Petrovietnam, and 4.7% by Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals.

Vietnam’s second oil refinery, Dung Quat, had said on October 20 it had already increased production to meet domestic fuel demand and was running at 109% of its designed capacity from a day earlier. Normally, the complex runs at 103% of its designed capacity, it added.

Petrovietnam-invested Dung Quat is in Quang Ngai province, also in central Vietnam.

In general, about 70% of Vietnam's fuel needs are sourced from the two refineries. The country’s third refinery is the $5.4 billionLong Son Petrochemicals Complex in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province near Ho Chi Minh City. Thai conglomerate SCG, the project investor, expects to start full operations in early 2023.