Thai Oil Plc, the country's largest oil refinery by capacity, aims to allocate an additional US$1.7 billion (63 billion baht) to support the development of a new oil refinery in Chon Buri's Si Racha district under the Clean Fuel Project (CFP), which is near completion.
The money will be spent on the purchase of equipment and other expenses, including consultancy fees.
The budget was recently given the green light by the Thai Oil board, which also approved the interest payment of $505 million incurred during the construction.
"We plan to ask for final approval during a meeting of our shareholders on Feb 21 next year," said Bandhit Thamprajamchit, chief executive and president of Thai Oil.
The CFP, which got underway in 2019, initially required an investment budget of $4.8 billion.
The project, which is now 90% complete, will pave the way for Thai Oil to boost its refinery capacity and support a plan to sell value-added products.
The company wants to increase its oil refinery capacity to 400,000 barrels a day, up from 280,000 barrels a day, and upgrade fuel oil to products with a higher value, including diesel and jet fuel.
It plans to develop new products designed to be more environmentally friendly.
The CFP, which is scheduled to start operations in 2025, is in line with a long-term strategy to build sustainable growth for the company, enabling Thai Oil to better compete with rivals amid the global transition to clean energy, said Mr Bandhit.
"This project will also help stimulate the economy because it creates jobs along the supply chain, including those carried out by construction companies," he said.
Thai Oil earlier urged the parent firms of construction companies working on the CFP to settle the months-long delay on wage payments to construction workers, which led to protests at the refinery in Chon Buri.