On May 29, Kazakh Prime Minister Orzas Bektenov held talks today with the General Director of the Russian Tatar Oil Company Nair Maganov. During the talks, it was mentioned that the butadiene production project, a joint venture between Tatar Oil Company and Kazakhstan's National Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna, will start the investment phase in July 2025, with China Tianchen as the contractor for the project.

The project envisages the construction of four production units using a process licensed by the U.S. company Lummus Technologies, and the raw materials for the production facilities will be supplied from the Tengiz and Korolev fields in Kazakhstan. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons of divinylstyrene synthetic rubber, 40,000 tons of styrene-butadiene-styrene rubber and 40,000 tons of methyl tert-butyl ether. These high value-added chemicals will be mainly used in the production of tires, pavement and high-octane gasoline. The investment phase will be launched on July 1 this year.

The meeting also discussed geological exploration work with the Kazakh State Oil and Gas Corporation in the Karaton Podsolevoi field, where exploration wells are currently being drilled to a depth of 5,500 meters, as well as projects for the production of terephthalic acid and polyethylene terephthalate.

Kazakhstan's energy minister Askhat Hasenov said that the first phase of the project will be put into operation by the end of 2025, and the second phase is expected to be launched at the end of 2026, with an annual rubber production capacity of 100,000 tons after completion, providing raw material guarantee for downstream tire companies such as KamaTyresKz LLP in Saran.

As early as November 2021, Kazakhstan National Oil and Gas Company and Russian Tatarneft reached a consensus to jointly establish a joint venture, Butadien LLP, focusing on the production of butadiene rubber.

Russian Tatarneft is a vertically integrated Russian oil and gas company headquartered in Almetyevsk, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation. It is the fifth-largest oil company in Russia. The company holds most of its exploration and production licenses and produces most of its crude oil in Tatarstan. In addition, it is engaged in the processing and refining of associated petroleum gas, the production and sale of petrochemical products (mainly tires), equipment manufacturing, engineering, procurement and construction services for oil, gas and petrochemical projects.

Earlier, Kazakhstan unveiled plans to invest in the petrochemical sector, which will attract more than 4.8 trillion tenge (about $9.12 billion) of investment into its chemical and petrochemical sector by 2035. The proposal, announced by the Minister of Industry and Construction Yersaiyn Nagaspayev, is part of a national strategy to diversify the economy and strengthen industrial value chains.

Nagaspayev said the investment will focus on expanding chemical production capacity serving key industries such as oil and gas and metallurgy, which are the strongest pillars of Kazakhstan's economy. Several ongoing and planned projects are already underway to increase production of polypropylene, polyethylene and other high-demand materials. The country's huge hydrocarbon and mineral reserves will be the basis for new petrochemical complexes and downstream facilities. This strategic focus is in line with the broader objectives of Kazakhstan's Industrial Roadmap 2035, which aims to strengthen non-commodity exports, create skilled jobs, and attract foreign direct investment (FDI).(This article is from the official website of Seetao www.seetao.com. Reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited. Please indicate Seetao.com + original link when reprinting) Seetao.com Strategy Column Editor/Sun Fengjuan