Page 5 - FSUOGM Week 26

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM
than gasoline production.
“We are proud to be part of this for-
ward-thinking and ambitious project,” Topsoe CEO Bjerne Clausen said in a company state- ment. “ is is the de nitive demonstration that TIGAS is a technologically and nancially viable way to produce gasoline from natural gas.”
Besides licensing out its technology, Topsoe also provided engineering services at the plant, as well as supplying hardware including its SynCOR autothermal reformer (ATR) burner, reactors, boilers and catalysts, which serve as the cornerstone of the plant’s technology.
In an interview with FSUOGM, Topsoe licensing manager Michael Teusch said there were several factors behind the project’s delay, including missing infrastructure.
“Considering the plant’s size, the new tech- nology and all the people involved, maybe the timelinewasveryambitious,”hesaid.
However, he added that commissioning was “going better than expected”, with production already at 70% capacity and expected to reach full capacity this month.
According to Teusch, the facility’s completion should pave the way for a second TIGAS-based GTG project to be greenlit in Turkmenistan. Topsoe also hopes to deploy its technology else- where, the manager said, noting that licensing contracts had already been signed for projects in the US, without divulging details.
“Wherever the cost of imported re ned prod- ucts is at a high price and cheap gas is available – this is the suitable location for a TIGAS or GTL plant,”hetoldFSUOGM.
In Turkmenistan, Topsoe was also involved in the urea project completed last year. In addition
to another GTG venture, the company is also vying for contracts at a planned second urea complex and a methanol-to-olefins (MTO) project.
Economic solutions
Turkmenistan is banking on such projects to bolster its ailing economy, which was hit hard by the commodities price crash of 2014 and the loss of Russia as a customer for its gas two years later. Supplies to Russia have resumed this year but are not anticipated to rise above 6bn cubic metres per year. Meanwhile, China is reluctant to buy too much gas from Turkmenistan, already its largest supplier, as it strives to diversify its imports. At the same time, ambitious pipeline projects aimed at giving Turkmenistan access to new European and Asian gas markets are strug- gling to make headway.
Prospects for Turkmen gas exports are there- fore limited, making domestic gas monetisation projects vital. Some of these ventures have had di culty making progress, however.
Plans for a $3.9bn gas-to-liquids (GTL) facil- ity near Ashgabat – another project Topsoe is involved in – are on hold because of nancing discussions, according to Teusch. Turkmengaz handed an engineering, construction and pro- curement (EPC) contract to South Korea’s LG and Hyundai Engineering to build the plant in 2015, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held the following year. ere have been no updates since then, however. e project is diesel rather than gasoline-focused, and is designed to pro- cessupto3.7bcmperyearofgasinto1.1million tpy of the motor fuel, along with 400,000 tpy of naphtha.™
The gas-to-gasoline plant at the construction phase. Source: Turkmenistan government website.
Week 26 03•July•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
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