Uzbekneftegaz to commission GTL complex by yearend

JSC Uzbekneftegaz subsidiary Uzbekneftegaz GTL LLC is nearing completion of its long-planned Oltin Yo’l gas-to-liquids (GTL) complex in southern Uzbekistan’s Kashkadarya region (OGJ Online, June 29, 2017).

Scheduled to launch later this year, the GTL complex will process 3.6 billion cu m/year of purified natural gas (methane) to produce 1.5 million tonnes/year (tpy) of high-quality synthetic liquid fuel, Uzbekneftegaz said on June 11.

GTL fuels produced at the complex will include more than 307,000 tpy of jet fuel, 724,000 tpy of diesel, 437,000 tpy of synthetic naphtha, and 53,000 tpy of LPG, according to the operator.

Proprietary GTL process technology from Sasol Ltd. will enable the complex’s production of synthetic diesel with nearly zero sulfur content (< 5 mg/kg), a high cetane number (> 70), and virtually zero aromatic hydrocarbon content (< 0.5 mass), Uzbekneftegaz said.

While clean-fuel production from the plant will primarily supply increased demand in Uzbekistan’s domestic market, Uzbekneftegaz confirmed it also will offer volumes for export via UzEX trading platforms.

In addition to providing a source of cleaner, high-quality, premium fuels for the country’s consumers, startup of the GTL complex will further strengthen Uzbekistan’s energy independence by helping to replace imported fuel volumes with its own domestic production, according to Uzbekneftegaz.

While Uzbekneftegaz said in an Oct. 26, 2020, release that construction of the GTL complex had entered its final stage, the operator has yet to confirm a precise timeline for the project’s scheduled 2021 commissioning.