Kazakh national oil and gas company mulls participation in US$1 bln Belarusian project

10-Dec-12

Kazakh national oil and gas company KazMunayGas is mulling participation in US$1 bln investment project of the Belarusian company Mogilevkhimvolokno, as per BelTA. The Belarusian state petrochemical concern Belneftekhim and its subordinate organizations have put together a government program for the development of the national petrochemical industry till 2015 and till 2020. The program is supposed to be discussed and approved by the Council of Ministers Presidium in December 2012. In particular, the program provides for implementing a US$1 bln project at OAO Mogilevkhimvolokno in association with the Kazakh company KazMunayGas. An agreement on cooperation with KazMunayGas was reached during the visit of Prime Minister of Belarus Mr Mikhail Myasnikovich to Kazakhstan in November 2012. The project will include a complex to make terephthalic acid out of Kazakh paraxylene. Terephthalic acid will then be processed by OAO Mogilevkhimvolokno to make polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and after that polyester fiber. In comparison with the present technology that uses dimethyl terephthalate to make PET the new complex will be much more effective as far as energy costs involved in the manufacturing process are concerned. Mogilevkhimvolokno will build a new complex able to make about 600,000 tonnes of polyester fiber per annum. The company plans to export about half of it.