KazMunayGas, Air Liquide to carry out oil and gas processing projects costing 100 mln euros

ALMATY. Nov 30 (Interfax-) - Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG) and France's Air Liquide Eastern Europe S.A. have signed an agreement on cooperation in oil and gas processing under which they plan to carry out projects costing about 100 million euros, KMG said in a press release on Wednesday.

The agreements were signed in France at a meeting between Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and French business leaders.

Air Liquide Munay Tech Gases LLP, a joint venture of KMG and Air Liquide, will consider building another hydrogen generation unit at the Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant to produce 160,000 tonnes of winter diesel a year.

The cost of this project is estimated at 60 million euros; it is expected to allow the company to increase the utilization rate from 84.2% to 88.3%, according to the press release.

Another project, worth about 40 million euros, is for construction of a technical gas production unit which will be part of KMG's polyethylene project in the Atyrau region.

KMG and Air Liquide also signed a memorandum of understanding concerning decarbonization. According to the document, Air Liquide Munay Tech Gases will reduce CO2 emissions by 33% in 2035 compared with 2020 and will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Air Liquide is a global leader in industrial gases production with operations in 75 countries.

Air Liquide Munay Tech Gases LLP (ALMTG), created in 2016, is a joint venture between Air Liquide S.A. with 75% and KazMunayGas with a 25% stake. ALMTG has been supplying hydrogen to the Pavlodar refinery since 2018 and nitrogen since 2020. On March 1, 2021 ALMTG started supplying hydrogen and nitrogen to the Atyrau refinery. ALMTG also built a nitrogen generation unit at the Karabatan petrochemical complex near Atyrau.