PM urges expansion of Kuwaiti oil industry worldwide – HH Sheikh Jaber extols KPI’s work on Vietnam

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HANOI, May 5, (KUNA): Kuwait’s Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah stressed on Thursday the imperative to expand Kuwait’s oil industry operations worldwide.

His Highness the Premier said that — in the course of his visit to Vietnam — as he attended a presentation by Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) on the work being done on the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Project which is jointly operated by Kuwait, Vietnam, and Japan.

His Highness Sheikh Jaber praised KPI’s work on the vital project and its penchant to absorb international technical expertise in the field of petroleum production.

During the presentation, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) Nizar Al- Adsani extoled the importance of the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Project and the role KPI plays in it, noting that the project would generate long-term dividends for KPI and the Kuwaiti oil industry in general.

In his turn, KPI’s Chief Executive Officer Bakheet Al-Rashidi gave a similar presentation in which he described the project’s associative operations in the continents of Asia and Europe, noting that KPI’s objective is to augment Kuwait’s dividends from its international oil and refinery productions.

Nghi Son Refinery is considered among the most important oil facility in Asia. It is located about 200 kilometres south of Hanoi in Vietnam. Construction began on Oct 23 2013, and refinery operations are targeted for 2017. Planned capacity is 200,000 barrels per day.

Nghi Son refinery, when completed, would have a designed capacity of 10 million tons of crude oil per year with possibility to increase the capacity to 20 million tons. It is expected to cost $9 billion. The refinery project will also include a petrochemical complex, energy facilities, pipelines and storage systems.

In addition to LPG, unleaded gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel, the refinery is projected to produce bitumen, propylene and BTX as a raw material for the petrochemical industry.

The refinery will be supplied with crude oil imports from Kuwait.

The project is developed by a consortium of international companies: Petrovietnam holds 25.1%, Idemitsu Kosan and Kuwait Petroleum International each hold a 35.1% each, and Mitsui Chemicals has the remaining 4.7% of shares. A contract to set up a joint venture was signed on April 7, 2008.

The refinery and petrochemical project integrates for Kuwait refinery operations with petrochemical chemical ones with the aim of generating solid dividends by working with international partners to minimize risks while selling Kuwaiti oil products in Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia and Europe.

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