Astana, 2 November. KazMunayGas, KMG PetroChem and the State Development Bank of China (China Development Bank) have signed a loan agreement for up to 2.89 billion yuan to build Kazakhstan’s first trunk ethane and propane pipelines, the company said.
The agreement provides a credit line for 15 years to finance the EPC contract for the project “Construction of trunk pipelines (ethane, propane) in a single corridor in Atyrau Region”; security is a corporate guarantee from Samruk-Kazyna. From the gas separation complex at Tengiz to Karabatan, two pipelines of about 210 kilometres each will be laid in one technical corridor. The ethane pipeline, with a capacity of 1.6 million tonnes a year, will supply feedstock to the polyethylene plant under construction, and the propane pipeline, 1.1 million tonnes a year, to the operating polypropylene plant.
The EPC contract was signed in November 2025 with a consortium led by China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co., Ltd. with the participation of CITIC Construction Co., Ltd. and CPPI Kazakhstan LLP; it covers design, equipment procurement, construction, installation and commissioning, and bringing the facility into operation. KazMunayGas deputy chairman of the management board Diana Arysova described long-term financing on attractive terms as a way to ensure timely construction of infrastructure for future production. KMG PetroChem chairman of the management board Diaz Diyanov said construction of the pipelines has already begun.
What it means: Construction of the ethane and propane pipelines is already under way under the EPC contract of November 2025; what is new in the statement is the source of money: a 15-year Chinese loan and a Samruk-Kazyna guarantee.
Who benefits: According to the company, the pipelines will supply the polyethylene plant under construction and the operating polypropylene plant; the contractor is a Chinese consortium.
Background: In the morning of the same day KMG PetroChem reported the start of production in Atyrau of propane bullet tanks for the gas separation complex.
