Monday, July 23, 2012 -
South African firm Sasol and Uzbekistan’s state gas firm Uzbekneftegaz began construction on the water and electricity infrastructure of a $4 billion gas-to-liquid (GTL) plant on Monday.
Malaysia’s Petronas is also participating in the project. The plant is the first of its kind in Eurasia.
Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyaev was on hand to initiate the construction, located near the town of Qarshi in the southern Uzbek province of Qashqadaryo.
“Once completed, it [the plant] will reprocess 3.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually...producing $1.5 billion worth products including diesel and jet fuels, naphta and liquefied gas,” the South Africa Press Association (SAPA) reported Mirziyaev as saying.
Both Uzbekneftegaz and Sasol hold 44.5 percent of the GTL plant, while Petronas holds an 11 percent share.
“The project will help resource-rich Uzbekistan to strengthen its energy self-sufficiency and diversify the utilization of its domestic gas resources,” Sasol President David Constable said.
Construction on the actual plant itself will occur in 2013.