VINACHEM

Top Thai energy firm PTT Pcl said it would make a proposal to the Vietnamese government to build a $20 billion refinery and petrochemical complex, revised down from an earlier project discussed two years ago.

State-controlled PTT will meet with Vietnam's prime minister this month to present its project proposal, PTT Chief Executive Pailin Chuchottaworn told reporters on Monday.

The complex has been designed to help meet Vietnam's domestic demand for oil products and boost its exports.

PTT has studied the possibilities of investing in central Vietnam for over two years. The value of the project was reduced from a previous estimate of $28.7 billion after the Vietnamese government issued a licence for a new refinery in northern Vietnam. The planned capacity of PTT's oil refinery has been cut by 40 percent from an initial 660,000 barrels per day.

The project, which requires investment of about 600 billion baht (US$18.8 billion), now includes a 400,000 bpd refinery and olefins and aromatic petrochemical plants, Atikom Terbsiri, PTT senior executive vice president, said.

The construction of the refinery is scheduled to be completed by 2021, and most of products will serve domestic demand in Vietnam, Atikom added.

The petrochemical complex will have an annual production capacity of 2.9 million tons of olefins and 2 million tons of aromatic products, and most of the petrochemical products will be exported.

Demand for refined oil products in Vietnam is expected to rise by 5-6 percent a year from about 300,000 bpd now, Atikom said, adding that PTT will hold about 40 percent of the project, while the rest will be owned by strategic partners.