History
The refinery project started already in 1980s. The refinery was planned to be construct near the port of Vung Tau, just 100 kilometres (60 mi) away from the offshore oil fields. In 1988, the clearance of the construction site from unexploded wartime ordnance was started. However, in 1991 the refinery project was shelved. In the early 1990s, Total SA expressed interest to the project. At the same time the Vietnamese government suggested to move the site to Van Phong bay, north of Nha Trang, and later further north to Dung Quat. Followed this, in 1995 Total SA pulled out, claiming that the new site made no economic sense. Total was replaced with a consortium of foreign investors, including LG Group and Petronas, but also this consortium withdraw two years later.
In 1998, establishment of VietRoss, a joint venture of Vietnam and Russia, was decided. The intergovernmental agreement on the construction and operation of the refinery was signed on 25 August 1998. The Front End Engineering Design (FEED) Contract was signed between Petrovietnam, Zarubezhneft and Foster Wheeler Energy. The Dung Quat Refinery was originally scheduled to start work in 2000, but the process was several times delayed. On 25 December 2002, the intergovernmental agreement between Vietnam and Russia was terminated, and the project continued as a solo project of Petrovietnam.
On 24 October 2003, the project management consultancy services contract was signed with Stone & Webster, and on 27 February 2004 the contract for front end engineering design (FEED) development was signed with Technip. The construction started on 28 November 2005. The refinery was inaugurated by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng on 22 February 2009. In the same year, industrial gross output in Quang Ngai Province increased by 144.7% and the share of industry in the province's GDP surged from 36.2% in 2008 to 46.3% in 2009.
On 16 August 2009, refinery's operations were suspended due to a "technical repair" in the residue fluid catalytic cracking unit. The unit was expected to be repaired by 9–10 September 2009.
Read more about this topic: Dung Quat Refinery
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