Russian group eyes Vietnam's oil refinery

A Russian business delegation went on a fact-finding tour to Vietnam's central Binh Dinh province late last week to have a better look at the Nhon Hoi Oil Refinery Complex, which will be built in the locality, state-run Vietnam News Agency reported Monday. The report quoted Igor Soglayev, general director of Sarvors Company under the Russian Rosneft Oil and Gas Group who led the delegation, as saying that Rosneft had worked with the PTT Public Company Limited (PTT) of Thailand, the project's investor, to announce its intention to become one of PTT's strategic partners in the project. Rosneft is now one of the world's leading petroleum groups, with production capacity of 250 million tons of oil per year and annual profit of 2.8 billion U.S. dollars. The Russian official asked about the transparency of Nhon Hoi Economic Zone's investment incentives, infrastructure and working conditions. He said the project would need at least 25 billion dollars in investment capital and 20,00030,000 regular workers. Therefore, it would require basic and huge support from the Vietnamese government and the provincial authorities. The project should become operational in 2018. Soglayev also revealed that Rosneft President Igor Sechin would study more carefully about the project while accompanying Russian President Vladimir Putin on his forthcoming visit to Vietnam, scheduled for Nov. 12. According to PTT, the project will cost around 28 billion dollars and the PTT is calling for more investment partners to the project. PTT is trying to complete all study procedures to submit to relevant agencies in April 2014. Once completed and put into operation, the Nhon Hoi complex will be one of the largest oil refinery complexes in Asia, reported the news agency.