Turkmenistan Starts up GTL Plant
Turkmenistan inaugurated a $1.7bn gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Ovan-Depe June 28 which can turn 1.785bn m3/yr natural gas to 600,000 metric tons (15,500b/d) of gasoline.
During the ceremony, the president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that the first produced gasoline cargo of 60 mt went to Afghanistan as humanitarian aid.
The plant was built on a contract signed in 2015 between Turkmengaz and a consortium of Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Turkish conglomerate Ronesans. The Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) helped to finance the project.
Alongside 'Euro-5' standard gasoline production, the plant can also produce 12,000 mt/yr of diesel and 115,000 mt/yr of liquid petroleum gas.
The Turkmenbashi and Seidi oil refineries were until now the country's only source of gasoline. They produce enough to meet domestic needs, with a small amount for export. Then GTL plant is aimed for exports and solves the problem of exporting gas.
The component of A-98 high-octane gasoline produced at the new plant will be the basis for the production of A - 95, A- 92 and A - 80 motor gasoline conforming to Euro-5 standards.
Turkmenistan produced 61.5bn m3 gas in 2018, of which 35.2bn m³ were exported, mostly to China (33.3bn m3) and some to Iran, according to BP’s 2019 Statistical Review of World Energy. Turkmenistan also recently restarted the export of 3bn m3/yr to Russia.
Turkmenistan also plans to construct several gas chemical complexes in the Balkan, Dashoguz, Lebap and Ahal regions, Berdimuhamedov said.