Lukoil plans 500 ktpa PP plant in Nizhny Novgorod
Moscow-based Lukoil has confirmed investment funding for a 500,000tpa PP plant to draw on propylene feedstock provided by its big Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery at Kstovo south of the Volga region city.
Output from the planned PP unit is expected to be sold chiefly for exports, stated Lukoil’s chief executive officer Vagit Alekperov as he confirmed the project late last month, reported Russia’s TASS news agency.
The Nizhny Novgorod PP scheme is in line with a new company policy of exploiting bi- products of its gas production more to provide quality raw materials for the manufacture of plastics.
Lukoil’s new gas strategy, in line with its policy of boosting added value production, includes potential plans for new petchems plants to produce up to 1m tpa of PE and 500,000tpa of PP, according to Rustem Gimaletdinov, its vice president of oil refining, gas processing and petrochemistry.
With a likely fall in demand for diesel and “classic” fuels, the group needs to rebalance its product range to maximise the value gained from its growing gas production, he believes. This means petrochemicals will increasingly become the key to future growth for the company.
Source: Plastics News Europe