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Refinery construction to begin
Construction of the Vung Ro Oil Refinery in central Phu Yen Province was set to begin this summer after more than two years of delays caused by land clearance difficulties, according to the Phu Yen Planning and Investment Department.
The department said the US$1.7 billion land clearance phase of the project was nearly complete, allowing construction of the refinery to begin in June or July.
Vung Ro Oil Refinery, which is the country's first wholly foreign-invested oil refinery project, will produce liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, polypropylene, benzene and sulphur.
The project, which is being implemented by the UK's Technostar Management Ltd and Russia's Telloil, covers roughly 200ha of land and 210ha of water surface near the Vung Ro Port in Dong Hoa District.
Crude oil will be obtained from the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) and imported from sources in the Middle East.
A lack of sufficient domestic refineries has forced the country to export crude oil and import refined products. Last year, nearly $6.3 billion was spent on importing 12.6 million tonnes of refined petrol products while 16.29 million tonnes of crude oil worth $7.8 billion was exported, according to the General Statistics Office.
The country currently considers the Dung Quat Oil Refinery as ‘operational' while three others, including the Vung Ro Oil Refinery, as ‘planned'.
The country's annual demand for petroleum products is forecast to surge to 20 million tonnes by 2012.
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