THANH HÓA — Nghi Sơn Refinery and Petrochemical LLC (NSRP) in Nghi Sơn Economic Zone in Thanh Hóa Province launched its first shipment of refined product, GASOLINE RON 92 (MOGAS92), on May 1.

Crude oil imported from Kuwait has been successfully processed at the US$9 billion refining complex to make petroleum products, meeting all the technical specifications. The product will serve commercial buyers in the Vietnamese market.

Turki Alajmi, CEO of NSRP and member of NSRP Management, was present during the launch.

“We are very proud of this significant achievement for NSRP, its sponsors, lenders as well as the Vietnamese Government. It shows that we can achieve great things through hard work, strong cooperation and friendship for mutual benefits,” Alajmi said.

“We are grateful to the Vietnamese Government, Vietnamese people and local partners who have provided tremendous support to NSRP to reach this milestone. We look forward to contributing strongly to the oil and gas industry and economy of Việt Nam,” he added.

The launch marks the success of more than four years of investment, financing, construction and commissioning of this mega refinery, with strong joint efforts by many stakeholders.

NSRP is the second refinery in Việt Nam with a capacity of 200,000 barrels per day (10 million tonnes per year). Its four sponsors are Việt Nam Oil and Gas Group, Kuwait Petroleum Europe BV, Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd and Mitsui Chemicals Inc, who together invested some $4 billion.

The remaining $5 billion were loaned from a large syndicate of almost 40 international commercial banks led by Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance, Export and Import Bank of Korea and several European export credit agencies from the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany, which makes NSRP the largest project finance deal in Việt Nam so far.

With an international EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor consortium led by JGC Corporation from Japan, construction of the NSRP Project started in July 2013 and was completed in April 2017. Since then, NSRP has been commissioning almost 3,000 systems in the refinery for almost a year, with over 1,000 employees, both Vietnamese and international, working full-time on site.

World-class technology in the refining industry has been applied to operate this complex refinery. Crude oil was delivered from Kuwait on a number of large crude carriers arriving for the first time in Việt Nam, unloaded at a delivery point 35km offshore and then transported through a pipeline to the refinery for processing. The products of NSRP will be mainly offtaken by PetroVietnam (petroleum products) and some major international offtakers (petrochemical products). 

NSRP, a project of national importance in the petroleum sector, has received strong support from the Vietnamese Government as well as the authority and people of Thanh Hóa Province. The development of the NSRP Project and its need for many supporting industries and services has also had a positive impact on the economic developments in Thanh Hóa and other areas in Việt Nam. In fact, many businesses have set up facilities in Thanh Hóa to cooperate with NSRP on a long-term basis. — VNS