The China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, Sinopec, will become part of a large polyethylene project in Kazakhstan. This was announced on January 29th by the chairman of Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas, Magzum Mirzagaliyev, and Sinopec’s president Yu Baocai, during a meeting in China.
The project will begin with the construction of a polyethylene production plant with a capacity of 1.25 million tons per year in the special economic zone in Karabatan, close to the Tengiz field in western Kazakhstan. The plant will produce a wide range of products, including premium high-density polyethylene, which is in constant high demand throughout the world.
The plant will help maintain social stability in the region. About 8,000 jobs will be created during the construction phase, and about 850 permanent jobs will be created during the operation period.
“This year we expect the final investment decision to be made, which will be the starting point for moving to an important stage — the start of construction,” Mr Mirzagaliyev commented.
To date, license agreements for the use of technologies have been signed with Chevron Phillips Chemical and Univation Technologies, world leaders in this field.
