BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 12
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Jizzakh Petroleum LLC, a joint venture with the participation of a subsidiary of Gazprom International, will act as a key investor in the construction of a complex using methanol-to-olefins (MTO) technology in Uzbekistan, Trend reports referring to the press service of Jizzakh Petroleum LLC.
The project's technical partners and consultants are IHS Markit, Nexant and Amec Foster Wheeler (Wood). By now they have completed the marketing analysis for the project as well as the configuration study. On its basis, it was decided to include 18 products in the grocery basket of the complex. The estimated cost of the project is $2.8 billion.
"A chemical complex of this scale and technical capabilities is unmatched in the CIS region. It was decided to build the plant in the Bukhara region of Uzbekistan, where it will work on domestic raw materials. This will allow monetizing natural gas through the production of export-oriented gas chemical products with high added value," Jizzakh said in a statement.
In 2019, the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan and a group of investors, which included Uzbekneftegaz, Uzkimyosanoat, Air Products & Chemicals Inc and Enter Engineering, signed an agreement to develop a project for the construction of a petrochemical plant using MTO technology.
At the same time, it was noted that the complex will annually process up to 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas and produce up to 500,000 products per year.
Jizzakh Petroleum JV LLC was created in June 2017 in order to boost the development of Uzbekistan's energy sector. The company was formed in accordance with the Resolution of the President of Uzbekistan to undertake various large-scale exploration, construction and modernization projects.
According to Uzbekneftegaz, in the medium term, it is planned to build a new gas chemical cluster in Uzbekistan with a preliminary cost of $4.25 billion on the basis of a public-private partnership.
The cluster will include the MTO complex, as well as about ten polymer processing plants with the production of up to 300,000 tons of finished products. The complex will process up to 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas with further production of high-pressure polyethylene, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene.
--
Follow the author on Twitter: @romakayeva
----------