Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Nov. 6 /Trend D.Azizov/
In Uzbekistan, the construction of the fifth stage of the propane-butane mixture facility on the unitary subsidiary Shurtanneftegas (Kashkadarya region, south of the country) worth $86.4 million is complete, an Uzbekneftegaz representative told Trend.
The design capacity of the fifth stage of the propane-butane mixture is 50.24 tons of liquefied gas and 13,000 tons of gas condensate.
Prior to that four stages with a total capacity of 200,000 tons of liquefied gas and 50,000 tons of gas condensate operated at the company.
The project was financed by a loan from the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan to the sum of $37.5 million and the own funds of Shurtanneftegas.
Shurtanneftegas, one of the three largest gas processing companies, it is part of the National Holding Company (NHC) Uzbekneftegaz.
The company operates seven oil and gas condensate fields four with an annual production level of about 22 billion cubic meters of gas a year. The design capacity of processing is 20 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
Besides Shurtanneftegas in Uzbekistan, there are two gas processing plants - Mubarek gas processing plant with a capacity 30.7 billion cubic meters of gas per year and Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex with a capacity of 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year.
As previously reported, Uzbekistan has developed a programme for conversion of motor vehicles to natural gas. In this regard a number of projects aimed at increasing the production of liquefied gas are being carried out.
In particular, a propane-butane mixture with a capacity 258,000 tons of liquefied natural gas and 125,000 tons of gas condensate is being constructed at the Mubarek gas processing plant.
According to official statistics, natural gas production in Uzbekistan in 2011 decreased by 4.4 per cent to 63.04 billion cubic meters and the production of liquefied hydrocarbon gas by 1.3 per cent, to 258,500 tons.