French consortium wins Vietnam contract

French consortium wins Vietnam contract

HANOI: A consortium led by France's Technip-Coflexip has won a US$700-$800 million contract to build Vietnam's first oil refinery, state-owned PetroVietnam said Monday.

The consortium, which also includes Japan's JGC Corp and Spain's Technicas Reunidas, saw off a rival consortium led by South Korea's Samsung Engineering just as Prime Minister Lee Han- Dong launched an official visit to Vietnam in which he had been expected to lobby for the South Korean bid.

The French firm's Technip Malaysia subsidiary will take the lead in the huge contract which includes all the design consultancy, procurement and construction work for the $1.3 billion refinery, planning director Tran Quoc Hung told AFP.

The only parts of the project excluded from the contract are some $350 million in associated infrastructure, most of which has already been awarded, and two further contracts worth a total of $200 million for crude and refined product storage. -- AFP