Accompanying the Prime Minister on his visit were leaders from the Government Office, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Acceptance Council for Construction Projects, the State Authority for Construction Quality Inspection, the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), as well as representatives from the Quang Ngai Provincial Party Committee, the Quang Ngai People’s Committee, the Dung Quat Oil Refinery Project Management Board, and the refinery’s contractors.
After inspecting the Catalytic Cracking Unit (RFCC-U015)—the site of a technical failure caused by a leak in the body of the shut-off valve PV-1501, which had led to the refinery’s temporary shutdown on August 18, Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng emphasized that the Dung Quat Oil Refinery Project is a nationally significant work.
The Prime Minister noted that the refinery produced its first batch of oil products on February 22, 2009, marking a historic milestone and a source of pride for the entire nation. Since then, the refinery’s products have met high-quality standards and been widely consumed domestically, reflecting the great efforts of the project owner, contractors, and all participating units.
Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng commended the project owner, management board, and main contractors for their swift response in identifying the cause of the incident, developing a recovery plan, and promptly arranging for the manufacture of a replacement valve to restore operations.
To ensure the safe and efficient operation of the refinery, the Prime Minister instructed the Project Management Board, PetroVietnam’s internal acceptance council, and the National Acceptance Council to conduct thorough reviews and inspections before restarting the plant on September 30. He stressed that all technical issues must be fully resolved and that proper acceptance procedures—from the facility level to the national level—must be strictly followed. Additionally, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of establishing operational procedures and ensuring qualified staffing for stable and high-quality refinery operations as approved.
The Prime Minister also approved PetroVietnam’s proposal to study and develop an expansion plan to increase the refinery’s capacity to 10 million tons per year.
In his report to the Prime Minister, Mr. Trương Văn Tuyến, Deputy General Director of PetroVietnam and Head of the Dung Quat Refinery Project Management Board, stated that as of August 15, 2009, most key processing units had been operating safely and stably at 70% of capacity, while all auxiliary systems were stable, supplying adequate electricity, steam, water, demineralized water, nitrogen, and control gas for the test-run operations.
However, on August 18, the refinery was forced to suspend operations due to a technical failure—a damaged valve in the catalyst regeneration unit of the RFCC section. The valve PV-1501, manufactured by Remosa (Italy), suffered seal damage, causing leakage. The main contractor has since completed the necessary repairs and corrective actions.
Currently, the project owner and main contractor Technip are implementing comprehensive repair and recovery measures to resume refinery operations as soon as possible. According to the plan, the valve would be transported to the site and installed in the RFCC unit on September 20, followed by bolt tightening, calibration, and function testing between September 21–25. Structural welding, reinstallation of pipelines and automation equipment were scheduled next, and from September 26–30, the unit would undergo heating, catalyst loading, and catalyst circulation before processing feedstock at 65% capacity on September 30.
Before the shutdown, the Dung Quat Refinery had successfully produced high-quality petroleum products, including:
- 38,888 tons of LPG
- Nearly 199,000 tons of A92 gasoline
- Over 142,000 tons of diesel
- More than 38,000 tons of kerosene
- Over 18,000 tons of fuel oil (F.O.)
During the visit, Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng also inspected the Polypropylene Plant, another PetroVietnam project under construction adjacent to the refinery, which had achieved 93.26% overall completion progress.
(Sources: Nhân Dân, Sài Gòn Giải Phóng, Thanh Niên, Người Lao Động, VNMedia, Tiền Phong, Vietnamnet, TTXVN, Tuổi Trẻ, VOVNews, Quân Đội Nhân Dân, An Ninh Thủ Đô, Đất Việt, Công An Nhân Dân, Pháp Luật TP.HCM, Nông Thôn Ngày Nay – September 20–21)
