Employees inspect Dung Quat Oil Refinery in central Quang Ngai Province. The refinery is planning to raise its current production level of 6.5 million tonnes to 10 million tonnes in the future. — VNA/VNS Photo Ha Thai

QUANG NGAI (Biz Hub) — The Dung Quat Oil Refinery needs up to US$2 billion to raise its annual processing capacity from its current 6.5 million tonnes to 10 million tonnes in the future.

BSR chairman Nguyen Hoai Giang told vnExpress that the Japanese contractor JGC was working on the refinery's expansion plan, which was expected to be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval next month.

The refinery, which is operated by Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co (BSR) and located in the central Quang Ngai Province, resumed operations at full capacity on Monday after the second major maintenance that lasted 56 days.

Giang said that about 4,000 experts, engineers and workers, including 400 foreigners, were involved in the overhaul.

Several major technical flaws were fixed during the process, and the single-point mooring (SPM) at the refinery was upgraded, allowing it to receive oil tankers of up to 150,000 tonnes. Previously it could only accommodate 100,000-tonne tankers.

By the year-end, the refinery planned to churn out about 2.6 million tonnes of products, contributing VND12 trillion ($564 million) to the State budget.

Starting commercial operations in 2010, the refinery has supplied over 26 million tonnes of oil, petrol and gas products until now, meeting 30 per cent of the demand for petrol nationwide.

In 2013, it produced 6.6 million tonnes of petroleum products, 17 per cent higher than its set target, and gained over VND154 trillion ($7.3 billion) in revenue and VND2.9 trillion ($138 million) in profit. It also contributed VND28.4 trillion ($1.3 billion) to the State budget. — VNS