BANGKOK, May 16 – Thailand’s state-owned oil conglomerate PTT has an ambitious plan to invest in oil refineries and the oil retail business in Southeast Asian countries starting with Vietnam, according to president Pailin Chuchottaworn.
He said PTT plans to expand its business in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam in accord with the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.
The Vietnamese government has given a green light to the PTT Group for joint investment to build an oil refinery and petrochemical plant in Binh Dinh province.
An initial joint venture study will take a year and PTT will submit its fully-developed plan to the Vietnamese government for final approval, he said, adding that the project will contribute to oil exports to the region including the Dawei industrial estate in Myanmar and Chennai in India.
This is a mega investment project in which PTT will find other partners to join in the Thai-Vietnamese venture, he said.
It was reported that the Vietnam’s oil refinery will produce at least 600,000 barrels of oil per day and at least one million tonnes of olefins. Crude oil for the refinery will be imported from the Middle East, Africa and South America.
The PTT Group will contribute 60 per cent of total investment while the remainder will be sought from Thai and foreign investors.
Anon Sirisaengtaksin, president of PTT Global Chemical PTTGC), said the Thai-Indonesian joint venture will produce at least one million tonnes of olefins.
Investment for the mammoth project is US$4-5 billion with PTTGC contributing 49 per cent and the remaining from other partners.
He said the Thai-Malaysian joint venture on a prypolene oxide plant will need an investment of US$2 billion and production should start in 2016. PTTGC will invest 25 per cent.
The PTT Group has also planned to expand its oil retail business in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. The first two gas stations in the Myanmar capital of Yangon will open next year with an estimated sales of 500,000 litres of gasoline per month.
