PTT gets preliminary nod for refinery project in Vietnam

PTT Pcl, Thailand’s top energy firm, has received a preliminary approval from Vietnam’s central government to build a refinery and petrochemical complex in the central province of Binh Dinh, a top executive said.
State-controlled PTT will seek partners to jointly invest in the project. It aims to finalize details of the investment in the next 12 months, PTT Chief Executive Pailin Chuchottaworn told reporters on May 15, 2013.
PTT did not give details about the value of the project, which will include a refinery with an expected capacity of at least 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) and a 1-million-ton olefin plant.
As part of its drive to expand in Southeast Asia before the single market alliance begins in 2015, the planned refinery would export oil products to the Dawei industrial zone in Myanmar and India’s Chennai, Pailin said.
PTT had said in November 2012 that it was considering plans to build a US$28.7-billion oil refinery in Binh Dinh, in what would be a record foreign investment in Vietnam.
Vietnam plans to boost its oil refining capacity to 500,000-600,000 bpd by 2020, up from 130,000 bpd now and it has at least six projects under way. The Dung Quat oil refinery is now its sole running facility.
(May 15, 2013)