Around £5 billion is likely to be invested in a new petrochemical refinery in the south of Vietnam, it has been announced.

Presently construction is well under way of two refineries in the Asian country, with the first, at Dung Quat, expected to be in operation at the start of 2009, with an estimated processing capacity of up to 6.5 million tonnes of crude oil a year.

At the same time, the country's second refining plant, which will be able to produce ten million tonnes of crude oil a year, is also being built in the northern Thanh Hoa province.

Now it has been reported that the Vietnamese government has agreed in principle to the construction of a third refining site in the Ba Ria Vung Tau province, specifically in the Long Son island commune operated by the state-owned Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).

According to local newspaper reports from the region, this proposed refinery will enable the Long Son area to meet current targets of producing ten million tonnes of crude oil a year by 2013.