Page 20 - FSUOGM Week 22

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Mitsubishi discusses gas projects in Turkmenistan
TURKMENISTAN
Turkmenistan plans
a second stage at the super-giant Galkynysh gas field.
JAPAN’S Mitsubishi held talks in May with Turkmen state firms Turkmengaz and Turkmen- himiya on gas projects, local government-run media reported.
The two sides discussed via video link the development of gas export and processing infra- structure, as well as the production of polymers and other chemical products from gas, agencies said on May 26. One topic brought up during the talks was preliminary technical studies for the construction of a 10bn cubic metre per year gas processing plant, as part of the next stage of the giant Galkynysh gas field’s development.
Galkynysh, located in Turkmenistan’s eastern Mary province, is one of the world’s biggest gas deposits. Gaffney Cline & Associates (GCA) puts its size at somewhere between 13.1 and 21.2 tril- lion cubic metres.
Turkmengaz launched production from Galkynysh’s first phase in 2013, and output reached a plateau rate of 30 bcm per year in late 2019, according to Turkmen authorities. Its gas is sold to China via the Central Asia-China (CAC) pipeline system.
Turkmengaz awarded a turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract in 2013 for the field’s second phase to China’s CNPC, under which output had been slated to reach 60 bcm per year by 2018. The project’s delay is thought to be linked to a lack of progress at the 33 bcm per year Turkmenistan-Afghani- stan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline.
TAPI has been discussed for decades but has still not reached financial close. India and Pakistan also appear to have lost interest in the project, with both reopening price talks for Turkmen gas last year. This said, pipes have been delivered for its construction in Turkmenistan.
Galkynysh’s second phase is expected to comprise three 10 bcm per year gas processing plants.
In related news, Turkmengaz opened a ten- der in May to add an isobutane production unit at the Kiyanli polymer complex. The complex was brought on stream in September last year and is capable of producing 381,000 tonnes per year of polyethylene and 81,000 tpy polypropyl- ene. ™
P20
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 22 03•June•2020