Vietnam says Nghi Son refinery construction facing delays

Test runs of the 200,000-barrel-per-day refinery, scheduled for November 2016, would be delayed by around four months, according to state oil group PetroVietnam, the government said in a report on its website on Tuesday.

The Nghi Son plant, initially slated to start operations in July 2017, will refine Kuwaiti crude to make liquefied petroleum gas, petrol, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel among other products, mainly used for domestic markets.

Vietnam’s existing Dung Quat refinery meets about 30 percent of domestic demand.

Senior government and PetroVietnam officials met on Tuesday to tackle issues surrounding the construction of the refinery, the government report said, without elaborating.

Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan and Kuwait Petroleum International each own 35.1 percent of the facility, while PetroVietnam has 25.1 percent and Mitsui Chemicals 4.7 percent.