SIBUR, KazMunayGas could invest $7.6 bln polyethylene project

MOSCOW. May 15 (Interfax) - Investment in the Silleno joint venture between Russia's SIBUR Holding and Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company KazMunayGas to build an integrated gas-to-chemical complex capable of producing 1.25 million tonnes of polyethylene per year is estimated at $7.6 billion, according to a draft Kazakh government resolution to approve a comprehensive plan for the development of major oil and gas and petrochemical projects in 2023-2027.

The project will be carried out in 2023-2028 with private and borrowed funding, the document says.

Silleno LLP will soon start Front End Engineering Design for polyethylene plant in Kazakhstan, Sergei Komyshan, SIBUR's executive director of marketing and sales, told Interfax at the beginning of January.

Kazakh National Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna, KazMunayGas, SIBUR and the stakeholders of operating companies in November 2022 signed heads of agreement to create joint ventures based on Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries Inc. LLP and Silleno LLP. They agreed on terms and conditions for their partnership in the joint ventures based in the National Industrial Petrochemical Technical Park, a special economic zone in Atyrau. This includes investment in the construction of the polyethylene plant with annual production capacity of 1.25 million tonnes, as well as sales of polypropylene to be produced by the plant with design capacity of 500,000 tonnes a year.

SIBUR's stake in each joint venture is 40%. Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries Inc. LLP started to produce polypropylene in early November 2022.