Investment phase of Russian-Kazakh butadiene project to begin in July - Kazakh govt
ASTANA. May 21 (Interfax) - A joint project of Russia's Tatneft and Kazakhstan's Samruk-Kazyna wealth fund to build a butadiene plant is to begin its investment phase in July 2025, with China Tianchen Engineering Corporation as its contractor, the Kazakh government's press service said.
Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and Tatneft CEO Nail Maganov discussed the project during a meeting.
"We are actively working with the contractor, China Tianchen Engineering Corporation. The project aims to produce 60,000 tonnes of divinyl styrene synthetic rubber (DSSR) annually for use in the rubber and tire industry, 40,000 tonnes of styrene-butadiene-styrene rubber (SBS) for road surfaces and plastics and 40,000 tonnes of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) as high-octane gasoline. The investment phase is expected to begin on July 1 this year," the press service said.
The parties also discussed geological exploration work at the Karaton Podsolevoy block, conducted together with the KazMunayGas national company, as well as projects for the production of terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
In November 2023, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced the beginning of construction on a butadiene plant with an annual capacity of up to 340,000 tonnes.
Kazakh Deputy Energy Minister Askhat Khasenov has told Interfax that the first phase of the project would be launched at the end of 2025 and the second at the end of 2026. An estimated $1 billion was invested in the project in 2023.
Khasenov said that the plant was to produce around 100,000 tonnes of rubber per year after the launch of the two phases, supplying it to Saran-based KamaTyresKz LLP, a joint venture of Tatneft and Kazakhstan's Allur.
Butadiene LLP is a joint venture for the production of butadiene and its derivatives. It was founded in November 2021 by Tatneft and KazMunayGas with 75% and 25% stakes respectively. KazMunayGas transferred its share to JSC Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna in June 2023. Samruk-Kazyna then transferred the 25% stake to Tatneft's operational management.
The plant is licensed by Lummus Technology of the U.S., which grants rights to use the technology and basic engineering at its four production units. The feedstock for the production process will be supplied by the Tengiz and Korolev oil fields in Kazakhstan.
