Vietnam has revised again its plans for the partial privatisation of Binh Son Refining (BSR), the owner and operator of the US$3bn Dung Quat refinery in the central Quang Ngai Province.
In May 2017, BSR planned to sell a 5-6% stake in the company through an initial public offering (IPO) in the fourth quarter of 2017 and to sell up to 36% of the company to strategic partners within 12 months of the IPO. Under the new plans, a 4% stake could be sold in an IPO in early November 2017, to raise VND 1,900bn (US$84m). Another 49% could be sold to strategic investors in 2018. Repsol, Vietnam National Petroleum Corp, or Petrolimex, have already expressed interest in the sale of BSR, along with 17 investments funds.
The 130,000 bbl/d refinery was commissioned in 2009 by Binh Son, a subsidiary state-owned oil group PetroVietnam, and is currently the sole refinery operating in the country, covering about 30% of local oil demand. Dung Quat plans to add 40,000 bbl/d by 2021. A second refinery, the 200,000 bbl/d Nghi Son project worth US$7.5bn, is currently under construction and should be commissioned in 2017.