HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade has given permission for Nghi Sơn Oil Refinery and Petrochemical LLC to export fuel products from its new plant, which is operating on a trial basis.

Under Document No. 7449, Nghi Sơn Refinery will be allowed to export a total of 240,000 cu.m of gasoline.

The ministry said the decision would reduce inventory pressure and ensure the safe operation of the plant during the remainder of its trial run.

The company will now seek advice from the Ministry of Finance about taxes and export pricing.

The company asked the ministry for permission to export fuel twice during its trial run, which started on February 28 with the goal of introducing products for the domestic market by May.

According to a report by the Việt Nam Oil and Gas Group, the refinery’s output was 391,000 tonnes in July.

The plant is scheduled to begin full official operations at the start of 2019.

Located in Nghi Sơn Open Economic Zone in Thanh Hóa Province, its capacity of 200,000 barrels per day makes it the largest refinery in Việt Nam. It will produce 10 million tones of crude oil each year, nearly double the capacity of Dung Quất Refinery.

The plant, once running at full capacity, will meet about 40 per cent of the domestic fuel demand.

The refinery – a joint venture of Việt Nam Oil and Gas Group, Kuwait Petroleum International, Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui Chemicals – required a total investment of more than US$9 billion.

It will benefit from a four-year tax exemption followed by 70 years of a preferential corporate income tax rate of 10 per cent.

Việt Nam Oil and Gas Group will be in charge of buying and selling the refinery’s products for its first 15 years in operation.

The buying prices will be equivalent to the import prices plus a three to seven per cent import tax. — VNS