BP To Be The Main Crude Supplier of PetroVietnam's Refinery

BP will supply half the capacity of the 140,000 barrel-per-day Dung Quat refinery from 2011.

However, the oil major isn't planning to buy a stake in the plant, said Clive Christison, BP's head of Supply and Trading, Eastern Hemisphere.

BP has clinched a deal to supply 70,000 barrels per day of sour crude to Petrovietnam from 2011, after a desulphuriser is added to the facility to process higher-sulphur crudes.

The $2.5 billion refinery, which will come onstream on February 25, is slated to run only on Vietnam's flagship Bach Ho crude before the $1 billion upgrade.

But a Petrovietnam official had said BP could supply sweet crude to the plant if the imported grade is cheaper than, but similar to, Bach Ho.

Even though BP will be the main supplier for the refinery from 2011, the company is not considering a direct investment in the plant.

"There is no plan at this moment for equity participation in this refinery," Christison said.

BP is already a major investor in Vietnam and is the operator in the country's biggest natural gas pipeline, the $1.3 billion Nam Con Son project.

Author: Ksenia Kochneva