The issues of developing the transport and logistics concept and the inflow of foreign investment were in the spotlight within the dialogues of the participants of the international investment forum «Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan 2022» in Ashgabat on March 29-30.
In an interview to CentralAsia.news, Allaberdi Ilyasov, a well-known Turkmen scientist, doctor of technical sciences commented on the great opportunities and aspects of the strategic development of the Turkmen oil and gas sector, and also spoke about investment-attractive fields for the partners of country.
Oil and gas logistics
The export-oriented oil and gas sector is the most important tool for ensuring the economic stability of the Turkmen state. Its qualitative development is a key task of the state strategy. In Turkmenistan, the development of logistics services plays an important role, since the oil and gas industry is one of the main components of the national economy.
The organization of logistics in the oil and gas industry requires a complex, often unique, approach to building a supply chain. The prospects for international economic relations and foreign trade of Turkmenistan determine the growth in the volume of processed cargo flows. The role of all existing and newly created large transport hubs in the relevant direction is systematically increasing.
The creation of an extensive international logistics infrastructure for cooperation between the countries of the world is one of the current trends in the development of world transport and an important factor in the further placement of productive forces in the modern world economic chain.
Transport corridors are of great importance for the joint work of our state with other countries, the development of the transport industry in solving socio-economic problems. Turkmenistan is actively working on the formation of multimodal transport and transit corridors, and this work has a beneficial effect on the development of trade and economic relations at the regional and international levels.
The oil and gas complex of Turkmenistan is gradually implementing large-scale projects in the field of diversifying the oil and gas industry, developing industrial potential, transport infrastructure and increasing the export of energy resources that are in demand on world markets such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, India with access to the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.
Based on objective realities, at the present stage Turkmenistan has formed its own concept of expanding cooperation with the international community in the field of logistics. Its main goal is to promote on the world stage scientifically good and practically effective models of multilateral partnership in this area, to create a set of appropriate conditions necessary for intensifying and improving the efficiency of international transport and transit communications.
Investment projects
The implementation of large-scale investment projects in the oil and gas sector is one of the strategic tasks of the state. Therefore, the opening of oil and gas complex facilities is of no small importance in the life of the Turkmen state.
In January last year, a new gas compressor station with an annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters was launched at the Malay field. Its functional feature is the complete development of the Malay field and pumping gas under high pressure from the Galkynysh and Dovletabat fields to the Malay-Bagtyyarlyk gas pipeline.
The operation of the compressor station at the Malay field, the operation of the power transmission line and railway transport, as well as the gas compressor stations in operation at the Galkynysh field require the development of another important industrial infrastructure, including the Seydi Oil Refinery, which is located in a very convenient geographical location.
The modernization of this enterprise has increased the productivity of existing products and a diverse range of new ones, such as liquefied gas, jet fuel, aviation gasoline for small piston aircraft, needle coke, benzene, polystyrene and other fuel and energy and petrochemical products, as well as raw materials for the production of building materials.
Foreign partners
Among the main priorities of the economic strategy of the Turkmen state are such principles as creating a favorable investment climate, diversifying investment sources, accelerating the implementation of major projects and programs, investing, first of all, in the oil and gas complex.
One of the reliable partners is Westport Trading Europe Limited (USA). Its most significant recent work was the modernization of two units at the Seydi Oil Refinery. In 2014, a technological plant for the production of road bitumen was put into operation. Another project of the company is related to the production of a high-quality component for Euro standard gasoline at the Seydi Oil Refinery in 2016. And now the specialists of the company are working on the completion of the construction of a complex of delayed coking and tar deasphalting units at the Turkmenbashi Complex of Oil Refineries.
Thanks to investments directed at the Turkmenbashi Complex of Oil Refineries (TCOR), the modern industrial giant has been modernized and produces many types of petrochemical products, sold mainly on the foreign market.
«Proposal Portfolio»
In addition, the foreign partners of Turkmenistan have a project for the construction of an ultra-modern Technological Platform GT-G2A. It is intended for the synthesis of aromatics, and these are benzene, toluene, xylene, methylbenzene, dimethylbenzene of natural gas. This is a completely new way of converting natural gas into liquid products through the use of a synthesis process by the dehydrocondensation mechanism developed by GTC (USA). This technology can be used to produce any monomer, butadiene, propylene, ethylene and other products from natural gas.
Foreign specialists have a whole package of project proposals for the study of the percentage concentration of helium in the natural gas fields of Turkmenistan. The company plans to build a plant for the production of needle coke. The main condition for the organization of industrial production of needle coke is the availability of the necessary resources of high-quality raw materials and appropriate coking capacities. Low sulfur coke is a potentially suitable feedstock for the production of needle coke.
At present, the only enterprise in the CIS that produces low-sulfur coke of tar is the Turkmenbashi Complex of Oil Refineries.
Technologies developed by specialists of a foreign company make it possible to obtain high-quality needle coke at the level of world standards. The production process of petroleum needle coke is technologically complex. It requires the development of unique methods for processing raw materials and the production process for each enterprise, which entails significant time and material costs. However, the technological potential of the TCOR makes it possible to establish a profitable production of high-quality needle coke here.
In addition, the TCOR can create a plant for the production of a product of crude oil — benzene, which is in demand on the world market. Benzene is one of the ten most important substances in the chemical industry for the production of synthetic rubber and plastics, synthetic fibers and dyes, and it is also used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. Using this hydrocarbon product in Turkmenistan, it is possible to expand the production of polystyrene products.
Polystyrene is a multifunctional polymer that is currently being used more widely. It has good heat insulating and shock absorbing properties, high compressive strength, moisture resistance and very low density.
The hydrogen and helium can be obtained from Turkmen natural gas, these are highly profitable products that are in demand on world markets.
Innovations in ecology
Along with the introduction of the latest technologies, the Turkmen state pays great attention to the compliance of its products with the requirements of environmental safety.
Consistent implementation of environmental policy by Turkmenistan, in particular, measures to improve industrial facilities, ensures the confident, dynamic development of the national economy. The natural resources of the Earth, including air, water, land, flora, fauna, and especially representative examples of natural ecosystems, must be conserved.
Today, there is a growing need for further development of an innovative system in subsoil use. The desire for a new quality of economic growth necessitates the improvement of existing approaches to the development of the innovation system.
One of the priority areas of the latest technologies in the oil and gas industry should be a constant increase in the level of industrial safety of production, ensuring healthy and safe working conditions for personnel and reducing the negative impact on the atmosphere.
The innovative nature of the projects acts as an effective alternative to the standard methods of developing oil and gas fields, which require large investments. The work on the protection of the environment is carried out. It is realized in accordance with the Program for the development of the oil and gas industry of Turkmenistan, in particular within the rational use of hydrocarbon resources, the deepening of oil refining, and the production of competitive, environmentally friendly petroleum products.
The international investment forum «Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan» (OGT-2022) was held on March 29-30. Within a welcoming speech, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov told the participants of the event about the attractiveness of the relevant sector of the country.
