Russian Yamal to host three large petchem centers

(downstreamtoday) -- Three large petrochemical centres are planned to be formed on the basis of natural gas, which is produced in the Arctic zone of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, Academician Alexei Kontorovich said.

In his words, the Petroleum Geology and Geophysics Institute of the Siberian Branch (Russian Academy of Sciences) completed the analysis of the oil-and-gas bearing capacity of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area and the Kara Sea area. Under the research, the above-mentioned territories have got colossal reserves of wet gas, which may be widely used in the domestic petrochemical industry.

"This may become a new material and new technology for our petrochemical industry," Kontorovich said. "This sort of natural gas, wet gas, has a complicated composition of hydrocarbons. It is a promising raw material for the petrochemical sector."

"Russia's petroleum chemistry, like European, always has been focused on the processing of gasoline fractions. At the same time, the United State and Canada mainly refine wet gases, which is more profitable," the academician explained.