RusGazDobycha lets additional contract for Ust-Luga chemical complex

JSC RusGazDobycha subsidiary Baltic Chemical Complex LLC, through a subcontractor, has let a contract to PESCO Switzerland AG to provide project management (PM) for its $13-billion ethane cracking project under construction on the Gulf of Finland near Ust-Luga, Russia (OGJ Online, Nov. 18, 2019; Apr. 2, 2019).

As part of the contract awarded by China National Chemical Engineering & Construction Corp. Seven Ltd. (CC7), PESCO Switzerland will deliver PM services for early works, long-lead item (LLI) procurement, and supply for the project, the service provider said.

While it did not disclose a value of the PM contract, PESCO Switzerland said this latest award follows a previous contract to PESCO Switzerland in November 2019 to provide PM services for the project’s extended basic engineering stage as part of jointly integrated PM team with CC7.

First announced in 2019 and slated to become the largest ethylene integration project in the world once completed, the natural gas processing chemical plant will include two ethylene cracking sites—each with a capacity of 1.4 million tonnes/year—six polyethylene trains with a combined processing capacity of 480,000 tpy, and two linear alpha olefin plants with a combined capacity of 137,000 tpy.

Construction work on the integrated complex—which will process ethane-containing gas from PJSC Gazprom’s production fields—currently is proceeding according to schedule (OGJ Online, Sept. 18, 2020).

The complex is due to be completed in two phases, with Phase 1 commissioning planned for fourth-quarter 2023 and Phase 2 startup to follow in fourth-quarter 2024, according to RusGazDobycha.