French oil service company Technip has handed over the Dung Quat oil refinery, Vietnam, to PetroVietnam’s Binh Son Refining Petrochemical Company, which will manage and operate the refinery’s output.

The Dung Quat refinery will process 6.5 million tonnes of crude oil annually, which translates to 148,000 barrels a day. At full capacity, Dung Quat will be able to meet over 30% of Vietnam’s petrol and oil demand.

In 2005, the Government decided to increase the project’s capital to $2.5bn and signed a turnkey deal with contractor Technip to build the refinery in 44 months.

The refinery started test runs in late 2008 with a workforce of over 1,000 engineers and workers. On 22 February 2009, the plant debuted Vietnam’s first locally made oil products.