Vietnam Nghi Son refinery's stakeholders to provide rescue funds to help maintain operations

State-owned PetroVietnam and several other stakeholders in the 200,000 b/d refinery at Nghi Son in central Vietnam have agreed on a short-term emergency funding plan that would help the plant purchase its staple feedstock Kuwaiti crude and maintain normal operations, PetroVietnam said in a statement Dec. 29.

PetroVietnam and the stakeholders agreed on the principles of the financial restructuring scheme proposed by the state-run oil and gas entity after "rigorous discussion," PetroVietnam said. The other stakeholders in the scheme declined to be identified.

State-owned PetroVietnam has a 25.1% stake in Nghi Son alongside Kuwait Petroleum International with 35.1% and Japan's Idemitsu Kosan with 35.1% and Mitsui Chemicals with 4.7%.

The stakeholders have agreed to make an early payment under a fuel offtake deal to help Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical, or NSRP, immediately resolve its liquidity crunch and maintain plant operations while waiting for final approval of the restructuring plan.

Nghi Son refinery on Jan. 25 slashed its operating rate to 80% of capacity from around 110% earlier due to its financial difficulties. NSRP had to suspend imports of crude oil for January arrival because it did not have the liquidity to purchase the cargoes.

The refinery is currently maintaining operations by processing crude oil from its storage facilities, an NSRP official told S&P Global Platts earlier. Nghi Son refinery runs solely on crude oil imported from Kuwait.

If the refiner had failed to secure enough cash liquidity or loans to pay for Kuwaiti crude to feed its CDU, the plant would have had to completely shut by mid-February, the official said.