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Petroleum Corporation of Thailand (PTT) is planning to build a refinery with a capacity of 660,000 barrels per day in central Vietnam, according to local reports.

PTT is said to have reported its pre-feasibility study of the Nhon Hoi refinery to officials of the government of Binh Dinh Province.

Government representatives are reported to have met with Mr. Sukrit Surabotsopon – PTT Deputy Director General - on November 22, to listen to a presentation of the pre-feasibility report.

Total investment in the refinery project is estimated at $28.7 billion. With an output of 660,000 barrels per day (bpd), the Nhon Hoi facility would be one of the world's largest oil refineries.

Speaking to Dow Jones Newswire, Mr. Le Huu Loc, Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Dinh Province, said construction of the plant is expected to start in 2016 and that the first barrels of oil would be processed in 2019.

"PTT has showed a very high determination, so we believe that they can carry out the project," Loc said.

Loc added that PTT is already in discussions with a number of Vietnamese companies to discuss the possibility of cooperation in the project. The local firms include: Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), the Petroleum Import-Export Group (Petrolimex) and the Military Petroleum Corporation.

Mr. Nattachat Charuchinda, CEO of PTT, said the crude material for the Nhon Hoi plant would be sourced from the Middle East and the project would include an aromatic processing plant for export to China.

Vietnam currently only has one oil refinery, the 130,500-bpd (6.5 million tonnes per annum) Dung Quat plant in Quang Ngai Province, which is expected to increase its capacity to 200,000 bpd (10 million tonnes per annum) by 2016-2017.

Construction of the country's second refinery, the 200,000-bpd Nghi Son plant, is expected to commence before the end of the year. Preparation work for the construction phase is virtually completed. The facility will be built in the central province of Thanh Hoa, 215 kilometres south of Hanoi, and will initially have a production capacity of 10 million tonnes per year. It is scheduled to be operational in 2014.