Vietnam’s state oil company yesterday agreed with companies from Japan and Kuwait to build what will be the country’s second refinery, a six-billion- dollar joint venture, reports AFP.

The Nghi Son refinery, to be operational by 2013, would turn Kuwaiti oil into petrol, liquefied petroleum gas, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel for Vietnam, which has offshore oil reserves but now imports petroleum products.

Petrovietnam said the refinery, with a targeted capacity of 10 million tonnes a year, would be located about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of the capital Hanoi in Thanh Hoa province.

The four companies involved have “reached an agreement to establish a joint venture company to implement the Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical complex project,” they said in a statement. Petrovietnam will hold a 25.1 percent stake, Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co and Kuwait Petroleum International will each hold a 35.1 percent share, and Mitsui Chemicals Inc, also of Japan, will have the remaining 4.7 percent.

“Kuwait is committed to secure long-term 100 percent crude oil supply for the project with a volume of about 10 million tonnes a year for the current stage, potentially increasing to 20 million tonnes a year,” the statement said. Vietnam’s Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, said the refinery would create about 10,000 jobs and would mostly supply the north, noting the facility was “crucial for energy security.”

The venture would complement Vietnam’s state-owned Dung Quat refinery, which is now being built after lengthy delays in central Vietnam and is expected to produce 6.5 million tonnes a year from 2009.

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