Page 8 - FSUOGM Week 24 2021

FSUOGM INVESTMENT FSUOGM

Sibur eyes petchems plant in

Kazakhstan

KAZAKHSTAN RUSSIAN petrochemicals group Sibur is consid- news agency reported on June 4, although it will
ering involvement in a gas chemicals project in spend no more than 30% of its own funds on the
The partners will reach Kazakhstan’s western Atyrau region. acquisition should it proceed.
a decision on joint The company signed an agreement at the Austrian petrochemicals group Borealis was
participation by the end St Petersburg International Economic Forum previously expected to build the complex’s poly-
of the year. (SPIEF) on possible co-operation on the project ethylene train. But it pulled out in May last year,
with Kazakhstan’s national oil company (NOC) citing the pandemic’s impact on economic con-
KazMunayGas (KMG) and Kazakh national ditions. The company said at the time it was still
wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna. The complex committed to building the polypropylene train.
would consist of a train capable of producing The complex will be fed with ethane from a
up to 500,000 tonnes per year of polypropylene nearby natural gas separation plant that KMG is
and another one turning out up to 1.25mn tpy of developing. This facility in turn will be fed with
polyethylene. The plan is to build the complex unseparated gas supplied by the Chevron-led
at a special economic zone 33 km from the city Tengizchevroil (TCO) consortium.
of Atyrau. Kazakhstan wants to establish itself as a key
“Our partners have extensive experience regional petrochemicals producer in the coming
in constructing and operating large facilities years, to add value to its hydrocarbons reserves.
in oil and gas production, transportation and The government envisages three petrochemicals
processing, and will in turn be able to support plants being built in Atyrau by 2025, along with
the projects with the necessary raw materials two more in the Shymkent and Uralsk regions.
and infrastructure within the special economic Sibur’s other projects in the pipeline include
zone,” Sibur CEO Dmitry Konov said. a large gas chemicals complex in Russia’s Far
The partners will reach a decision on join par- Eastern Amur region, near the Chinese border.
ticipation by the end of the year after undertak- It is slated to cost $10-11bn, although China’s
ing studies, Sibur said. Sibur could take as much Sinopec recently came on board as an investor
as a 40% stake in the project, Russia’s Interfax to share this expense. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 24 16•June•2021