Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) has decided to invest nearly US$27 billion in a petrochemical complex project in the south-central province of Binh Dinh.

The provincial People’s Committee and relevant ministries have completed a proposal for submission to the Prime Minister in late January 2013, said Nguyen Kim Phuong, director of the Binh Dinh provincial Department of Industry and Trade.

He told the media that PTT has registered to invest in the project in the province’s Nhon Hoi industrial zone after three years of negotiations.

The refinery will be built on an area of 2,000ha and has a design capacity of approximately 30 million tonnes a year. Crude oil will be imported from the Middle East, Africa, and South America to feed the refinery to churn out more than 20 types of oil and petrochemical, mostly for export.

If the project receives a nod from the government, it will get off the ground in the first quarter of 2016 and be put into operation commercially in 2019.

Ho Quoc Dung, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, said PTT has assured that it will mobilise enough investment for the project, and it will cooperate with the Thailand national petroleum company and other Vietnamese partners to undertake the project.

VNA