Grassroots methanol-to-olefins complex planned for Uzbekistan

Jizzakh Petroleum JV LLC, a joint venture of JSC Uzbekneftegaz and Gazprom International SA subsidiary Gas Project Development Central Asia AG, has signed on as a major investor in a project to build a grassroots gas chemical complex based on methanol-to-olefins (MTO) technology in southwestern Uzbekistan’s Bukhara region.

Selected for siting in Bukhara due to its proximity to competitive feedstock, energy supplies, suitable infrastructure, and key export markets across Europe and the Asia Pacific, the proposed complex will process 1.5 billion cu m/year of domestic Uzbek natural gas to produce 500,000 tonnes/year of high-quality polymers, including low-density polyethylene (LDPE), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polypropylene (PP), Jizzakh Petroleum said on Sept. 1.

Despite challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, continuous work on the project already has been executed, with the first preparatory stages of marketing analysis and feasibility studies for the complex now completed by technical partners IHS Markit, Nexant Inc., and John Wood Group PLC’s Amec Foster Wheeler.

Following final selection of a technology licensor in a process that is now under way, Jizzakh Petroleum said front-end engineering design will begin for the proposed complex, which—according to the project’s feasibility study—will cost an estimated $2.8 billion.

The planned project comes as part of Uzbekistan’s plan to diversify its economy, develop domestic industries, reduce product imports, and enable the country to monetize its natural gas resources via production of export-oriented, high-value products, according to Jizzakh Petroleum.

“Even in these current[ly] difficult times, we are happy to report progress in this unique and ambitious project,” said Shokir Fayzullayev , Jizzakh Petroleum’s general director. “We are keen to play a key role in enabling a new carbon economy for Uzbekistan and the region as a whole by supporting innovative projects and solutions on the way to a cleaner and safer future.”

Jizzakh Petroleum’s confirmation of its involvement in the project follows Uzbekneftegaz’s May 2019 entrance into a quadripartite agreement with JSC Uzkimyosanoat, Enter Engineering Pte. Ltd., and Air Products and Chemicals Inc. on basic conditions for development of the MTO-based gas chemical complex, according to a May 20, 2019, release from Uzbekneftegaz.

In a separate May 16, 2019 release, Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy said other potential technical and consulting partners of the proposed project at the time included Honeywell UOP LLC and Haldor Topsoe AS.

Details regarding a timeframe for the project and all confirmed partners involved in its development have yet to be disclosed.