Astana, November 6. QazaqGaz Processing, a subsidiary of the national company QazaqGaz, has signed a contract with a consortium of Chinese and Kazakh companies to build a new gas processing plant at Kashagan with a capacity of 2.5 billion cubic metres of gas a year, QazaqGaz’s press service reported.
The contract is on an EPCC basis: the consortium must design the plant, supply equipment, build it and commission it. The consortium includes China National Chemical Engineering Sixth Construction Company (Kazakhstan Branch), China Wuhuan Engineering Corporation Ltd., AVC Production LLP and C-NRG (Synergy) LLP. The contract was signed on November 6 during a working trip to China by QazaqGaz Management Board Chairman Alibek Zhamauov, who held talks with Chinese partners.
The plant will increase processing of Kashagan hydrocarbons and supply the domestic market with commercial gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and sulphur; the company says this will strengthen the region’s energy security and economic potential. The construction, the company says, is strategically important for Kazakhstan and is being carried out in fulfilment of the Head of State’s instruction.
According to InfoTEK, two gas processing plants are planned at Kashagan, of 1 and 2.5 billion cubic metres a year. Construction and equipment deliveries are under way at the first, with start-up planned for 2027; the second is being prepared for the main phase and is due for completion in 2030. The contract’s term and value are not given in the report.
What it means: Kashagan gas gets a second stage of processing: after the small 1-billion-cubic-metre plant (2027), the 2.5-billion plant (2030) adds more than double that capacity. The contract’s price and schedule are not given in the report.
Who benefits: QazaqGaz and the domestic market, which needs commercial gas and LPG; the Chinese contractors that won the contract. For consumers the effect depends on timing: the main plant is expected in 2030.
Background: A gas processing plant cleans produced gas of impurities and separates commercial products: dry gas for the grid, liquefied gas (propane and butane) and sulphur. EPCC stands for engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning.
