Vietnam's Trade Ministry To Reply To Nghi Son Refinery's Request Soon

HANOI, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade will respond to a request from the Nghi Son oil refinery to export fuels such as gasoline and diesel "soon," it said in a statement on Monday.

Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, the owner of a 200,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in northern Vietnam, has requested to export oil products in what would be a first for the country, a net importer of oil, Reuters reported last week.

"The refinery has the right to export its oil products if they meet standards requirements and in accordance with the ministry's plan," it said in an emailed statement, without giving a time frame for a response to the request.

Nghi Son, the country's second refinery, made the request to export fuels as local traders and consumers have been unable to absorb fuel sales from the plant as it ramps up toward commercial operations in November.

Most local buyers have already procured supplies under long-term contracts, limiting what they can take from the plant.

Nghi Son, and the 130,000-bpd Dung Quat refinery that started production in 2009, are expected to jointly meet about 70 percent of the country's refined oil product demand.

Nghi Son is located 260 km (160 miles) south of Hanoi.

The $9 billion refinery is 35.1 percent owned by Japan's Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1 percent by Kuwait Petroleum <IPO-KUWP.KW>, 25.1 percent by PetroVietnam and 4.7 percent by Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu and Mai Nguyen; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)