SIBUR to get 25% of TNK-BP's Zaikinsky GPF
MOSCOW. July 25. (Interfax) - SIBUR and TNK-BP have struck an agreement for SIBUR to acquire a 25% stake in the Zaikinsky Gas Processing Facility (GPF) in 2013, the companies said in a joint press release.
This agreement is envisaged in a packet of strategic partnership agreements in the areas of production, refining and utilization of hydrocarbon feedstock signed on Wednesday.
"Following SIBUR's entrance into the Zaikinsky GPF project, the companies will jointly manage the enterprises and infrastructure, as well as invest in capacity expansion and modernization. Zaikinsky GPF and the associated infrastructure will function as an independent joint venture," the press release said.
During the signing ceremony, TNK-BP's Executive Director German Khan said that the Zaikinsky GPF's capacities will be boosted by developing the resource base in the region.
"The expansion will occur in the framework of the JV," he said, admitting that once the GPF's capacities are increased, deliveries of natural gas liquids (NGL) to Rosneft's oil refineries in the Samara region might cease. "A significant portion of the volumes will disappear," he said.
At the moment, NGL are transported through Rosneft's GPF in the Samara region and supplied to petrochemicals enterprises in the area. Once the Zaikinsky GPF is expanded, which entails the construction of its own gas fractioning unit, there will be no need for this. Rosneft is aware of the company's plans and is accordingly adjusting its own plans, Khan said.
According to TNK-BP's information, the company has undertaken a project to expand the capacities of the Zaikinsky GPF, including the construction of a second phase of gas processing facilities, a loading center at the Tyulpan railway station, gas fractioning installations and complex gas preparation units at the Pokrovsk compressor station.