MOSCOW (MRC) - Lukoil is considering options for participation on a partnership basis in methanol production projects and expects to make an appropriate decision by the end of the year, said the head of the company Vagit Alekperov in an interview to Kommersant.
"Polypropylene in Nizhny Novgorod will be provided with its own resources. Propylene from the new cracking in Perm, in addition to providing Saratovorgsintez, can be the basis for new petrochemical projects. We are also considering options for partnering in methanol production. We expect to make a decision by the end of the year," - he said.
According to him, Gazprom's gas will most likely be used there, which is about 2 billion cubic meters per year, but if it gives an opportunity, we can make a swap. "Our relations with Gazprom allow us to look at this issue quite optimistically," Alekperov added.
He explained that we are talking about new construction in ports, the company is looking at suitable sites both in the north and in the south of the country. The head of Lukoil also added that all investment decisions to expand the gas processing plant in Budennovsk had been made.
"In the future, we plan to launch a gas chemical complex. We have invited Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak to launch the project. We hope that a joint trip to Stavrolen will take place at the end of September," he said. In addition, the head of Lukoil said that the company is negotiating with Gazprom to buy its gas in Yamal, and if the price rises, it is ready to forcefully put its fields in the region into operation.
At the same time, he added that with a successful outcome of the negotiations, the commissioning could take place at the end of 2023, since the necessary gas pipeline has already been built.
As MRC informed before, Lukoil, the second largest oil company in Russia, has begun construction of a polypropylene (PP) production complex at the Nizhny Novgorod refinery in the city of Kstovo. It is noted that the complex will become the largest polypropylene production facility in Russia integrated into an oil refinery. The raw material for polypropylene production at Lukoil's Nizhny Novgorod site will be propylene from two modernized catalytic cracking units with a capacity of 4 million tons per year. After putting the complex into operation, the enterprise will be able to produce about 500 thousand tons of polypropylene grades.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
Lukoil is one of the leading vertically integrated oil companies in Russia. The main activities of the company include operations for the exploration and production of oil and gas, production and sale of petroleum products. Lukoil is the second largest privately-owned oil company in the world in terms of proven hydrocarbon reserves. The structure of Lukoil includes one of the largest petrochemical enterprises in Russia - Stavrolen.
mrcplast.com