Vietnamese refinery secures contractor credit package
Nghi Son Refinery & Petrochemical LLC (NSRP) has received a first credit package of about $600 million from contractors and sponsors for its 200,000-b/d refinery and petrochemical complex in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam (OGJ Online, June 7, 2013; Jan. 30, 2013).
Vietnam’s receipt of the credit package was announced at a recent provincial meeting with investor representatives of the refinery complex, according to a June 19 release from state-owned PetroVietnam.
In addition to construction activities in Thanh Hoa, engineering design and equipment fabrication for the complex currently are under way in Japan and South Korea, the company said.
While the project will continue to be quickly implemented, the project could encounter some setbacks in the future, such as a source of sand supplies for concrete-pouring activities, according to Kazutoshi Shimmura, general director of NSRP.
To keep the project on schedule, Shimmura expressed hope at the meeting that the province of Thanh Hoa would continue to expedite customs clearance of large volumes of imported machinery and supplies from abroad necessary to complete construction, according to the release.
The $9 billion Nghi Son refinery will process Kuwaiti crude oil and is due to begin commercial operation in 2017 (OGJ Online, Apr. 14, 2014; Dec. 18, 2013).
The Nghi Son complex is a joint venture of PetroVietnam (25.1%), Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd. (35.1%), Kuwait Petroleum Europe BV (35.1%), and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (4.7%), who collectively have financed $5 billion for the project (OGJ Online, Jan. 30, 2013).
