Vietnam government reassures lawmakers on Thai PTT mega-refinery project

25-Nov-13

The Vietnamese government will thoroughly evaluate state-owned Thai PTT's proposed mega-refinery and tightly manage the development of other refinery and petrochemical projects in the country, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told the National Assembly, as per Platts. The statement was in response to a lawmaker's concern that regional governments appeared to be on a "campaign" to build too many projects. PTT expects to complete a feasibility study of the proposed 660,000 bpd project in the central province of Binh Dinh in April. Dung said most of the proposals for new Vietnamese refineries have been approved in principle and were included in the country's 2020-25 development plan for the refining and petrochemical sector, which was released in 2011. However, he has asked the municipal government of the southern Can Tho City to consider revoking the investment license of the much-delayed 2 mln tpa Can Tho project. The sponsors, Vietnam's Vien Dong Investment and Trade Corp., are financially unable to move the project forward, the prime minister said. Dung said Vietnam's sole 130,000 bpd Dung Quat refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai has shown its effectiveness. Russia's Gazprom Neft plans to acquire a 49% share in state-owned PetroVietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical, which controls and manages the Dung Quat refinery. The two parties are currently in price negotiations.