Thailand's petrochemical project in Vietnam suspended

BANGKOK, November 24 (TNA) - PTT Public Company Limited (PTT), Thailand's largest petroleum firm, is likely to stop its new petrochemical complex project in Vietnam's Binh Dinh Province, following an initial notification from the Vietnamese side. PTT President and Chief Executive Office (CEO) Tewin Wongwanich told journalists on Thursday that PTT has received an informal notification from Binh Dinh Province on the cancelation of PTT's Victory Project in the Vietnamese province, where a tourist resort project will be developed instead. "PTT may have to suspend the petrochemical complex project in Binh Dinh, worth about 10-12 billion US dollars, following the informal notification from the Vietnamese province, but PTT needs to wait for a formal notification from the Vietnamese province before a further decision will be made", said Tewin. Tewin noted that PTT has tasked its subsidiary, IRPC Public Company Limited (IRPC), to conduct a study on a new suitable location for the petrochemical complex project, which could be in Thailand instead. Previously, PTT conducted a study to invest in an oil refinery and petrochemical complex project, worth 18-20 billion US dollars in Vietnam and the joint venture project with Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's national oil firm, was approved by the Vietnamese government in late 2014, but Saudi Aramco later withdrew from the joint venture. (TNA)