Representatives from Spanish energy company Repsol on Tuesday met with leaders of the Binh Son Refinery and Petrochemical Co Ltd (BSR) to seek opportunities to invest in the Dung Quat Refinery.

During the meet, Repsol said the company not only wants to own shares of Dung Quat Refinery, but also wants to participate in the plant’s management, operation and trade.

Leaders of BSR, which operates the Dung Quat Refinery, agreed with Repsol’s proposal to set up two negotiating teams to further discuss co-operation between the two sides early.

Dung Quat Refinery, which holds one-third of the petroleum market share in Viet Nam, plans to sell 4-6 per cent of its stake in January next year.

Following the IPO, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) plans to continue transferring 49 per cent stake to strategic shareholders in 2018, which means the State’s ownership ratio in Dung Quat will be lower than 50 per cent. This will allow private investors to control the No.1 oil refinery in Viet Nam.

Under the current law, foreign investors are not allowed to distribute petrol products in Viet Nam, unless they have oil refineries in the country. Therefore, analysts predict foreign conglomerates will buy stake in Viet Nam’s oil refinery to obtain the right to distribute petrol products.

The Vietnamese energy market is witnessing the highest growth rates in the region. The total demand for petroleum products in Viet Nam in 2015 was 17.5 million cu.m. According to the World Bank, average petroleum consumption per capita in Viet Nam has increased by 5 per cent per year. The demand mostly comes from three sectors – transport (65 per cent), industrial production (20 per cent) and people’s consumption.

Dung Quat’s business performance is impressive. It posted revenue of VND74 trillion and net profit of VND4.492 trillion last year, which means a rate of return on equity (ROE) of 14 per cent.

By the end of October, the revenue of the oil refinery reached VND63.3 trillion and its ROE rate was 16.09 per cent. — VNS