Thai PTT, Saudi Aramco in Vietnam Petrochemical JV

Thai energy company PTT has joined with Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer, to submit a proposal to the Vietnamese government to build a $22 billion refinery and petrochemical complex in Vietnam, a senior PTT official said.

State-controlled PTT and Aramco will each own 40 percent of the project at Binh Dinh's Nhon Hoi economic zone, with the Vietnamese government holding the remaining 20 percent, Atikom Terbsiri, PTT senior executive vice president, told reporters.

"Aramco will help supply crude to an oil refinery with capacity of 400,000 barrels per day," Atikom said, adding that PTT-owned Thai Oil and IRPC will also join the project.

The Vietnamese's trade and industry ministry will consider the proposal, which will be discussed with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, who is due to visit Southeast Asian countries in the coming months, Terbsiri said.

The project includes an olefins and aromatic petrochemical plants with combined capacity of 5 million tonnes a year. It is expected to take six to seven years before the complex is fully operational.

The completed project would help to meet Vietnam's domestic demand for oil products and boost its exports.

PTT revised down the value of the project 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.

Reporting by Khettiya Jittapong