A ceremony was organized on Sunday in the north-central Vietnamese province of Thanh Hoa to officially put into commercial operation the country’s largest oil refinery and petrochemical plant.

The Nghi Son oil refinery and petrochemical plant, located at the namesake economic zone in Tinh Gia District, is designed with a capacity of ten million metric tons of crude oil per year, at a cost of nearly US$9.3 billion.

The facility is able to produce such types of fuel as Ron 95 and Ron 92 gasoline, benzene, liquefied gas, and others.

The project was approved by the provincial People’s Committee in April 2008.

According to a representative of Nghi Son Company, which operates the facility, the plant has produced approximately 4.5 million metric tons of fuel since May, contributing over VND8 trillion ($344 million) to the province’s budget.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asserted that the Nghi Son plant is significant to national development in terms of politics, economics, society, security and defense.

The refinery also contributes to ensuring national energy security.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the ceremony. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The commercial operation of the plant marks a breakthrough development in the country’s oil refinery-petrochemical sector, the premier said.

Nghi Son, together with the Dung Quat oil refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai, will collectively meet about 80 percent of the domestic fuel demand, thus reducing Vietnam’s reliance on fuel imports, PM Phuc added.

“Nghi Son is the biggest project in Vietnam regarding construction scale and total investment,” the top official underlined.

The project is a symbol of international cooperation that received special attention and support from the Vietnamese government and its important partners, namely Japan and Kuwait, Phuc said.

It also helps create a skilled workforce, serving as a ‘nucleus’ for the development of human resources in the region.

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