The Nghi Son complex is Viet Nam's second oil refinery after the Dung Quat Plant in central Quang Ngai Province.—Illustrative image/Photo vnexpress

HA NOI — Authorities in the central province of Thanh Hoa officially handed over the land use right certificate and construction permit yesterday to the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Project in the Nghi Son Economic Zone, 200km south of Ha Noi.

The Nghi Son petrochemical complex has a total investment of US$9 billion with a capacity of 10 million tonnes of crude oil per year. The new refinery will use crude oil imported from Kuwait to produce several products including petroleum products such as diesel and jet fuel, and high-value added petrochemicals such as polypropylene and benzene.

The Nghi Son complex is Viet Nam's second oil refinery after the Dung Quat Plant in central Quang Ngai Province. The project is owned by the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Limited Liability Company which is a joint venture between Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd, Kuwait Petroleum International, Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation and Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

A joint venture formed by a consortium of contractors including Chiyoda (Japan) Corp, JGC Corp (Japan), Technip (France), GS Engineering & Construction and SK Engineering & Construction (South Korea) were awarded an EPC Contract in January 2013, with JGC heading up the work.

The contract covers all design work, procurement, construction and a trial run for the project.

Mai Van Ninh, secretary of the provincial Party Committee, said his province was willing to work closely with the contractors and create favourable conditions for the project to progress. Ninh also instructed the investors and contractors to implement their commitments to ensure construction proceeded on time to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Commercial operations will begin in mid-2017 with a capacity of 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day, equivalent to 10 million tonnes per year. — VNS