Vietnam scraps Binh Dinh refinery, petchems complex plan – reports

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Vietnam has scrapped a plan to build a $20bn joint venture refinery and petrochemical complex in Binh Dinh province, according to various media reports.

Binh Dinh’s provincial committee on 24 June announced that the project has been cancelled following several delays, which affected its overall feasibility and attractiveness to investors, Vietnamese media groups reported.

Thailand’s state-controlled firm PTT and Saudi Arabian oil giant Saudi Aramco had been looking at the project since 2014.

The project, which was expected to house a 400,000 bbl/day refinery and an olefins and aromatics plant with 5m tonnes/year of output, was supposed to begin construction this year and slated to start up in 2021.

On 1 July this year, Saudi Aramco decided to pull out of the prospective joint venture with PTT in Vietnam, while the Thai firm transferred the project to its 38.5%-owned affiliate IRPC.

A PTT spokesperson on Tuesday said that the company has no immediate comments on the status of the Vietnam project on Tuesday.