The complex is scheduled to start operation around 2023.
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The proposal to make LPS a wholly owned subsidiary was apparently meant to speed up decision-making and execution. He predicted related parties will reach a conclusion within "a few months."
The LSP is invested by a joint venture between SCG and PetroVietnam (PVN) with the total capital of US$5.4 billion on an area of 464 hectares. SCG currently holds 71% of LSP's charter capital, while PVN owns the remaining 29%. SCG proposed to take over entirely LPS, according to a report released on January 19. The complex is scheduled to start operation around 2023.
Last February, SCG and the Vietnamese government held a ground-breaking ceremony for the plant. However, according to Roongrote, that did not signal the start of construction but "was a symbol to affirm commitments by the Vietnamese government, the local government and by ourselves."
He also emphasized that there remain huge growth opportunities in Vietnam in the petrochemical businesses.
At present, Dung Quat Refinery, the first-ever oil refinery in Vietnam, processes about 6.5 million tons of crude oil per year, meeting only 30% of the domestic demand for petroleum products, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The project's construction, therefore, is in line with the Politburo's development strategy of the Vietnamese petroleum sector by 2025, with vision to 2035, stressed Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the ground-breaking ceremony.
The LPS to build the first integrated petrochemical complex in Vietnam is planned to eventually provide a capacity of 1.5 million tons of ethylene, propylene and other olefins annually. Total demand in Vietnam will grow to 3.5 million tons from the current 2.5 million tons in several years, Roongrote said.
The LPS was licensed in 2008 with an initial investment capital of US$3.7 billion by three groups: PVN, Vietnam Chemical Group (Vinachem), and SCG.
VinaChem, however, withdrew its capital and was replaced by Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) in 2012.
In April 2017, QPI also decided to withdraw from the LSP. At the time, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Vina SCG Chemicals (VSCG), SCG acquired a 25% stake from QPI in LSP Limited, the investor of the LSP, according to a statement published on SCG's website.
