MOSCOW (MRC) -- The USD9.2-billion Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP) plant in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, is expected to begin commercial operations in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a report on NSRP's website, of which reported Apic-online.
NSRP has almost completed all preparation works for the project, which includes a 200,000-b/d refinery and petrochemical units to produce 700,000 t/y of paraxylene, 240,000 t/y of benzene and 370,000 t/y of polypropylene.
A joint venture of PetroVietnam, Kuwait Petroleum Europe, Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui Chemicals, NSRP was originally expected to begin commercial operations in early 2017.
PEC Ltd., along with its subsidiaries and associated companies, received a seven-year single daily maintenance contract earlier this year for the NSRP complex.
As MRC wrote previously, in May 2017, there was a notice on a government website for Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue and a source close to the matter that the commercial start-up of Vietnam's new USD7.5 B Nghi Son oil refinery will be delayed to 2018. Trouble with a mechanical test on some of the refinery's components set back test runs at the plant, causing the delay, according to the notice.
Japan's Idemitsu Kosan and Kuwait Petroleum International each own 35.1% of Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemicals, while PetroVietnam has 25.1% and Mitsui Chemicals 4.7%.
MRC