Faster work urged on Vietnamese projects

July 5, 2007
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked contractors to speed up construction of several oil and gas projects.

Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, July 5 -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked contractors to speed up construction of several oil and gas projects, including the Dung Quat refinery, the Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical complex, and the Ca Mau combined-cycle project.

Regarding the 140,000 b/d Dung Quat refinery in the central coastal province of Quang Ngai, Nguyen instructed state-owned PetroVietnam to work with Technip to address problems that he said have caused delays (OGJ Online, Feb. 19, 2007).

Nguyen wants the refinery to become operational by February 2009.

The $2.5-billion refinery is being built in the Dung Quat Economic Zone in Binh Son district's Binh Tri and Binh Thuan communes.

Construction of the refinery began in June 2005, 7 years after the target date stipulated by a 1997 National Assembly resolution.

Meanwhile, the Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical project is being built on 325 hectares in the Tinh Gia district of Thanh Hoa province, with completion set for 2011.

The project includes a 140,000-b/d refinery, a 150,000-350,000-tonne/year polypropylene plant, and a 260,000-tonne/year polyester fiber plant.

Construction of the Ca Mau combined-cycle project in U Minh district, 15 km from Ca Mau City, started in March 2001. PetroVietnam said the complex will include a gas pipeline, a power plant, and a nitrogen fertilizer plant.

Siemens planned to deliver two 250-Mw gas-fired turbines and generators to the Ca Mau project last August and to start them by March.

Nguyen specifically requested a speed-up of installation of heat-control units on the 332-km PM3-Ca Mau pipeline, which is to carry 2 billion cu m/year of gas from offshore fields to the complex.

Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].