[Thanh Hoa, Vietnam] – [September 20, 2023] – Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC (NSRP) has successfully reached 70% of its planned Turnaround progress as of September 18^th, 2023. This Turnaround is carried out after the refinery has officially come into commercial operation for 4 years, in order to clean, inspect and maintain important technology equipment and processing units.

“We are pleased to announce that we have reached 70% progress of the first Turnaround”, said Mr. So Hasegawa, NSRP’s General Director. “This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees and General Mechanical Contractors (GMCs). We are on track to complete the Turnaround safely and on time, and we are committed to ensuring that our Refinery continues to operate safely and reliably for many years to come.” – Mr. So Hasegawa added.

As of now, over 3,300 pieces of equipment have been opened and are in the process of being maintained, repaired, and replaced according to procedures and technical requirements.

Over 5,000 skilled manpower, including foreign and local experts, engineers, and workers of the GMCs, together with 1,000 employees of NSRP have been mobilized to conduct the 1^st Turnaround.

Mr. Le Nguyen Quoc Vinh, NSRP General Manager of Refinery, also shared about the operation and management process of this Turnaround.

“We have implemented a comprehensive safety plan for the Turnaround, and we are working closely with our GMCs to ensure that all work is carried out safely and efficiently”, said Mr. Vinh. “To manage the complexity of the Turnaround, a Steering Committee was established since the planning phase of this Turnaround. We have been conducting daily briefings with the GMCs to update and review the progress. In addition, the Technical Committee meets twice daily to address and make decisions to handle arising problems promptly”, Mr. Vinh added.

NSRP shall resume the product delivery activities from its inventory reserve of 9,000m³ gasoline and 75,000m³ diesel from September 20, ahead of the set schedule, depending on the receiving plan of the off-taker and key traders.

It is also expected that from October 7 to 9, 2023, some key processing units can be partially restarted. Once the Turnaround is completed, the refinery can resume normal operations and continue to provide stable petroleum products to the Vietnamese market.

“We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our employees and GMCs during the Turnaround. We are also thankful for the strong support of Thanh Hoa provincial authorities, local authorities and local community to the execution and completion of this 1^st Turnaround,” said Mr. So Hasegawa – NSRP General Director. “We are committed to complete the first Turnaround schedule, continue to operate more safely and stably, thereby contributing significantly to local economic and social growth in particular, as well as energy security of Vietnam in general”.