Uzbekistan’s Shurtan GCC lets contract for ethylene expansion

JSC Uzbekneftegaz subsidiary Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex LLC (Shurtan GCC), through a subcontractor, has let a contract to Lummus Technology LLC to deliver technology licensing and equipment for a project that will more than double ethylene production at Shurtan GCC’s petrochemical complex in the Guzar district of southern Uzbekistan’s Kashkadarya region.

As part of the contract awarded by subcontractor Enter Engineering Pte. Ltd., Lummus will design and supply four proprietary Short Residence Time (SRT) VI and SRT VII cracking furnaces, the service provider said.

Lummus disclosed no further details regarding either a value of the contract or its timeframe for work on the project.

Previously scheduled to be completed during second-half 2020, Shurtan GCC’s proposed expansion was to increase the complex’s current 125,00-tonnes/year polyethylene production capacity to 450,000 tpy (OGJ Online, June 29, 2017).

Financed by a mix of funds from Uzbekneftegaz, Shurtan GCC, and loans from Chinese and Russian financial institutions and banks, the expansion comes as part of a May 11, 2017, decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan designed to ensure Shurtan GCC’s complex further diversify its polymer production, improve its technical and economic indexes, increase export potential, and reduce imports of raw materials by increasing production of high-quality products in demand in foreign and local markets, according to Shurtan GCC’s website.

As of 2019, construction on the project—for which Shurtan GCC previously awarded a turnkey $1.3-billion contract to Enter Engineering to provide engineering, procurement, and construction—was under way, Shurtan GCC said.

Detailed design and project development were carried out by specialists from Uzbekneftegaz, Uzbekistan GTL LLC, Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd., McDermott International Inc., and Enter Engineering, according to the operator.