Construction of world’s largest petrochemical plant in Russia is set to commence soon. This is after China National Chemical Engineering Group (CNCEC) and Baltic Chemical Complex, a subsidiary of RusGasDobycha signed US $13.3bn agreement to build the plant.
Phases of the project
Once construction begins, the project is to be divided into three phases which include; infrastructure extension, early stage engineering and then project implementation. According to CNCEC’s chairman Dai Hegen, the project will be the biggest ethylene integration project in the world, the biggest single contract in the global petrochemical field, as well as the biggest contract signed by Chinese enterprises so far.
Upon completion, the plant, which be built at the port of Ust-Luga near the Gulf of Finland, will process Russian natural gas. The plant will consist of two sets of ethylene crackers with an annual capacity of 1.4 million tonnes, six polyethylene trains with an annual capacity of 480,000 tonnes and two linear alpha olefin facilities which will be used in the production of polyethylene with an annual capacity of 137,000 tons and an outside battery limiter (OSBL). Construction expected to take a period of five years.
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Benefits
The project will create more than 6,000 local jobs and train employees in technology and skills during construction period. The project will also provide over 3,000 long-term steady jobs after the conclusion of the project.
The country is looking forward to push into petchems amid uncertain prospects for global oil demand. In its latest world energy outlook, BP in Russia forecasts that global crude oil and condensate demand will rise by less than 3mn bl/d between now and 2040, due to a rapid growth in the use of electric cars, among other factors.
