OREANDA-NEWS.  July 27, 2012. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of SIBUR Holding Leonid Mikhelson, Executive Director of TNK-BP German Khan and Chairman of the Management of SIBUR Holding Dmitry Konov have signed a set of agreements on strategic partnership between the companies in the areas of production, refining and utilization of hydrocarbon feedstock, reported the press-centre of TNK-BP.

The companies reached agreement on the indefinite continuation of their Yugragazpererabotka joint venture. Contracts under the framework of the joint venture have been extended through the end of 2026.

Additionally, SIBUR and TNK-BP have agreed on SIBUR's acquisition of a 25% share of the Zaikinsky Gas Processing Facility (Zaikinsky GPF) in 2013, following the modernization and construction of new installations onsite. 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 parties are also engaged in negotiations about SIBUR possibly purchasing liquefied petroleum gas, the production of which is envisioned on the framework of the Rospan project.

The parties intend to continue cooperation in the area of TNK-BP's application of SIBUR's fuel component products and other petrochemical products within the framework of existing contracts.

“The successful work of our Yugragazpererabotka joint venture allows us to look at our future partnership with optimism,” said Chairman of the Board of Directors of SIBUR Holding Leonid Mikhelson. “SIBUR continues to expand its resource base not only with associated gas, but also through the processing of natural gas in our petrochemical production. Effectively, our companies are directly involved in the important area of high-level processing of hydrocarbon resources in Russia.”

“The creation of the Yugragazpererabotka JV in 2007 has enabled our companies to significantly increase the utilized volumes of TNK-BP's associated gas. Our partnership with SIBUR plays an important role in solving our high-priority task of increasing utilization of this raw material up to 95% by 2015,” said Executive Director of TNK-BP German Khan. “Today we are commencing a new stage in the partnership between TNK-BP and SIBUR. The large-scale gas-refining projects in the Orenburg region and the development of the Rospan assets will open up new opportunities for our joint business and will efficiently solve the problems of properly utilizing associated gas not only in western Siberia, but also in other oil-producing regions of the country.”