OREANDA-NEWS. September 20, 2012. Noyabrsk, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, 20 September 2012. SIBUR has held a formal opening ceremony to start production at the Vyngapur Gas Processing Plant (GPP), Western Siberia, and to join the first pipes within preparation for the construction of the “Purovsky Gas Condensate Processing Plant – Tobolsk-Neftekhim” pipeline. Among those attending the event were Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SIBUR Holding, Chairman of the Management Board of NOVATEK; Dmitry Konov, CEO of SIBUR; Vadim Yakovlev, First Deputy CEO of Gazprom Neft; and heads of regional government.

The Vyngapur GPP processes associated petroleum gas (APG) received from Gazprom Neft’s oil fields by turning it into dry gas and natural gas liquids (NGL), which are the main raw materials for the petrochemical industry. Since 2007, SIBUR has invested more than RUB20 bn building and upgrading processing facilities and pipeline infrastructure in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, including RUB4.8 bn into the Vyngapur GPP.

The new plant was built on the site of the Vyngapur compressor station by expanding the existing capacity and improving the recovery of desired fractions. In particular, a new low-temperature condensing and rectification unit was launched, with a capacity of 2.1 bn m3 of APG per year. APG input capacity was increased by 0.75 bn m3 to more than 2.4 bn m3 per year. NGL production capacity more than doubled to reach 640,000 tonnes per year, including up to 221,000 tonnes of ethane NGL mix per year. The recovery ratio now stands at 99% which represents the highest ratio in Russia together with SIBUR’s Gubkinskiy GPP.

To generate power for in-house consumption at Vyngapur GPP, a pilot gas-engine power plant has been started. It uses dry gas and consists of four generators with an aggregate capacity of 6.8 MWt. The new power plant will ensure the Vyngapur Plant’s energy independence.

To ensure a secure raw materials supply to the Vyngapur GPP, Gazprom Neft and SIBUR expanded their associated gas transportation and processing capacities. Gazprom Neft has constructed new pipelines and partially upgraded the existing gas collection system at the Vyngapur cluster of fields in the Yamal-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Areas. The total length of pipelines constructed and upgraded is 111km.

NGL from the Vyngapur GPP will be dispatched through the Noyabrsk tank car filling station, primarily to Tobolsk-Neftekhim, where gas fractionating capacity is being expanded from 3.8 mln tonnes to 6.6 mln tonnes of NGL a year. In addition, the construction of the Tobolsk-Polymer complex, the largest polypropylene facility in Russia, is close to completion at the Tobolsk industrial site. Other cutting-edge petrochemical facilities in Tobolsk are also currently under consideration by SIBUR .

To ensure a reliable feedstock supply to the expanding Tobolsk industrial site, SIBUR is planning a construction of a new 1,100 km Purovsky Plant- Tobolsk-Neftekhim main pipeline for the transportation of NGL from the Yamal-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Areas to Tobolsk-Neftekhim. The new pipeline will allow for greater petrochemical feedstock deliveries and higher gas throughput and conversion rates in Western Siberia. At the ceremony attended by heads of regional government, SIBUR made the first symbolic pipe joint as part of prospective construction. Annual capacity of the new pipeline will be more than 4 mln tonnes between Purovsky Plant and Yuzhno-Balyksky Plant, and up to 8 mln tonnes between Yuzhno-Balyksky Plant and Tobolsk-Neftekhim.

Dmitry Konov, CEO of SIBUR, commented: “Construction of the Vyngapur Plant completes SIBUR’s programme to expand gas-processing capacities and transport infrastructure in Yamal. We have substantially enhanced our capacity to receive and process associated petroleum gas, transport our products, and also established a reliable feedstock platform for our growing petrochemical production in Tobolsk, as part of establishing a petrochemical hub in Western Siberia.”