Nonetheless, in the immediate aftermath of the gas deal with
On May 17 the Kazakhstan Energy and Natural Resources Ministry approved a feasibility study of the petrochemical complex in Atyrau region with a total capacity of 1.2 million tons per year. In a statement the ministry also announced that the Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries (KPI) would become the project"s operator.
The announcement marked a significant increase in the Atyrau project"s cost estimate. In May 2006,
Last year, the Kazakh government moved to sign up a major international contractor to develop the Atyrau project. In March 2006, KMG and Basell signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the Atyrau petrochemical complex, which would involve the Kulsary gas extraction facility and the Atyrau plant to produce polymers.
Incidentally, Basell"s involvement in the Atyrau project would entail an indirect Russian connection. In August 2005, New York-based Access Industries, headed and owned by Russian-born billionaire Leonard Blavatnik, acquired the international petrochemical major Basell for €4.4 billion. Access Industries was part of the deal to set up TNK-PB, one of
Earlier this year, Basell was reported to be mulling plans to acquire a 35% stake in Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries (KPI) from the holding company Sat & Co. After this acquisition, Sat & Co. would continue to be the largest shareholder with 50%, while KMG would hold the other 15%.
In October 2005, the Kazakh government drafted a $7 billion national plan to develop the petrochemical sector, which envisaged building a total of nine new petrochemical plants. The new facilities would produce ethylene, propylene, styrene, benzene, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, methanol, and mono-ethylene-glycol, according to the government blueprint. The blueprint envisaged creation of some 60,000 new jobs in the petrochemical sector in the coming 15 years.
In April 2007, KMG indicated plans to build a $1.2-1.5 billion natural-gas-processing plant at Karachaganak. KMG head Uzakbai Karabalin told a government meeting that KMG would start construction of the plant in late 2008 or early 2009 and that the facility would have an annual capacity of 5-7 billion cubic meters of gas (Kazinform, April 18).
The Kazakh government was reported to be considering overseas petrochemical projects as well. In March 2007, KMG was reportedly interested in joining a $4.9 billion project to build a 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery in the Turkish Mediterranean
There were also plans for
PIN/JAMESTOWN.ORG
Your Comment