Vietnam's Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC has sold its first batch of diesel to the local market, after its new refinery was put into operation in April, the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group said on Thursday.

The $9 billion facility, the Southeast Asian nation's second refinery, has a processing capacity of 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, the company said in a statement.

The plant, 260 km (160 miles) south of Hanoi, sold its first batches of RON 92 and RON 95 gasoline earlier this month. Sales of jet fuel and petrochemical products are due soon.

The refinery in Thanh Hoa province is 35.1 percent owned by Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1 percent by Kuwait Petroleum 25.1 percent by state-run PetroVietnam and 4.7 percent by Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

Vietnam's first refinery, Dung Quat, has a capacity of 130,000 bpd. When Nghi Son is fully operational, it and Dung Quat will meet about 70 percent of Vietnam's fuel needs.