National oil and gas conglomerate PTT Group has acquired a 15.38% share in PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP), Indonesia's ทดลองเล่นสล็อต largest petrochemical producer, for US$1.183 billion (39.1 billion baht) to tap into the growing petrochemical market in Southeast Asia. The acquisition was made on Thursday through PTT's oil refinery arm Thai Oil Plc (TOP), Thailand's largest oil refinery operator by capacity. Other major shareholders in CAP include PT Barito Pacific Tok, Marigold Resources Pte, Pak Prajogo Pangestu (Barito Group) and SCG Chemicals Co. "This deal is in line with a strategic plan to enhance our competitiveness for downstream petroleum businesses," said TOP chief executive and president Wirat Uanarumit. PTT's investment will enable CAP to build a new production facility, named PT Chandra Asri Perkasa (CAP2), estimated to cost $5 billion, Mr Wirat said. This should increase CAP's capacity to 8 million tonnes per year, up from 4.2 million tonnes. The new facility, located near CAP's petrochemical complex, is scheduled to be built early next year and be operational by 2026. TOP plans to supply 1 million tonnes of naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas annually to CAP2, which will produce olefins and polyolefins. The two feedstocks are sourced from its $4.82-billion clean fuel project (CFP) in Chon Buri's Sri Racha district. CFP, which is set to start operations in 2023, aims to increase TOP's oil refinery capacity by 45% to 400,000 barrels per day. TOP expects to gain an annual profit of $30-40 million from the share purchase, with the amount doubling once CAP2 is operational. Mr Wirat said the investment in CAP will increase profit from the petrochemical business from 40% to 50% of total profits, which includes profit from oil refining. When payment for the share acquisition is completed, TOP increases its registered capital by 10 billion baht, with cash gained from selling half of its 20% share in Global Power Synergy Plc, a power generation arm of PTT.
