SOCHI, September 16 (Itar-Tass) —— One of Russia’s biggest oil companies LUKOIL plans to start constructing a large petrochemical enterprise in the south of the country, in the Stavropol territory, in October, LUKOIL CEO Vagit Alekperov said in an interview to the Russia 24 TV channel during the International Investment forum in Sochi on Friday.
“The facility is expected to become one of the biggest petrochemical enterprises in the south of Russia, where the population employment issue is the most pressing problem now,” he said.
“The new petrochemical plant will be geared to use resources of the Caspian Sea’s northern fields, which are expected to be supplied to the facility for further production of polyethylene and polypropylene,” the company’s head said.
“Investments are rather big – about three billion U.S. dollars,” Alekperov said.
“We hope to lay the plant’s cornerstone in October. I have already invited Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin to attend the ceremony,” he said, stressing, “For us, this will be an important event, the beginning of a large construction project, which [will create] thousands of jobs.”
“I am confident that the project will give a fresh impetus to the development of the petrochemical industry in the south of Russia,” Alekperov said.
LUKOIL is one of the world’s leading vertically integrated oil and gas companies. Main activities of the company are exploration and production of oil and gas, production of petroleum products and petrochemicals, and marketing of these outputs. Most of the company’s exploration and production activity is located in Russia, and its main resource base is in Western Siberia. LUKOIL owns modern refineries, gas processing and petrochemical plants located in Russia, Eastern and Western Europe, near-abroad countries. The company’s products are marketed in Russia, Eastern and Western Europe, in near-abroad countries and the USA.
LUKOIL is the second largest private oil Company worldwide by proven hydrocarbon reserves. The company has around one percent of global oil reserves and 2.4 percent of global oil production. LUKOIL dominates the Russian energy sector, with 18.6 percent of total Russian oil production and 18.9 percent of total Russian oil refining.
At the beginning of 2010, LUKOIL proven reserves were at 13,696 million barrels of crude oil and 22,850 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
LUKOIL has an outstanding portfolio of production assets. The main production region for LUKOIL Group is Western Siberia. LUKOIL is carrying out international exploration and production projects in Kazakhstan, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Venezuela, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Iraq.
At the beginning of 2010 the company’s marketing network embraced 26 countries, including Russia, former Soviet republics, European countries the near-abroad and European countries, as well as the USA and includes 199 tank farm facilities with total capacity of 3.13 million cubic meters as well as 6,620 filling stations, including franchises.