TASHKENT (TCA) — Uzbekistan’s national oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz has presented a new concept of implementation of the investment project on expansion of the production capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Plant, the Jahon information agency reported.
Previously, the company planned to increase the annual capacity of polyethylene production from the current 125,000 tons to more than 200,000 tons, while now it intends to bring the output to 500,000 tons. At the same time, the project provides for the processing of valuable raw materials — synthetic naphtha, as well as development of new types of polyethylene and polypropylene.
The new concept will allow the implementation of an initiative of using synthetic naphtha GTL in the production of olefins with the subsequent release of new polymer grades. In addition, the project will provide an opportunity to create a new technological cluster in the Kashkadarya region.
In the Investment Program for 2017, the project is estimated at more than $400 million, about $100 million of which will be allocated by the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan, $250 million by a foreign partner, and the rest by Uzbekneftegaz. The company schedules to complete all the works by the end of 2019. The project cost and terms of commissioning will likely increase with the change of the concept.
Earlier, the Uzbek side signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a joint study of the project for upgrade of the plant’s facilities with the South Korean company GS E&C.
The Shurtan gas chemical plant was put into operation in 2001. It has major outlets in Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Turkey, China, Poland, and Italy.
