BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 20. Chairman of the
Management Board of Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company
KazMunayGas (KMG) Askhat Khassenov reviewed the progress of major
oil and gas chemical projects during a working visit to the Atyrau
region, KMG said.


Khassenov visited the construction site of the Silleno
polyethylene plant, which is designed to produce 1.25 million tons
of polyethylene per year.


The project is preparing for the installation of its first
large-scale piece of equipment - a fractionation column for the
pyrolysis unit. Manufactured by Kazakhstan's AtyrauNefteMash plant,
the column is 101.8 meters high, 7.5 meters in diameter and weighs
about 1,500 tons.


A crawler crane with a maximum lifting capacity of 4,000 tons
has been delivered to the Atyrau region for the installation
works.


Overall progress on the Silleno project has reached 36%.
Foundation works for buildings, equipment and pipe racks at the
pyrolysis unit are 57% complete, while pile driving and foundation
works at the polymerization unit and utility facilities are also
underway.







More than 3,400 people and over 600 units of special equipment
are currently involved in construction. The project has reached 6
million hours worked without lost-time injuries.


"Particular attention is being paid to increasing local content
in the implementation of the project. To date, contracts worth
$1.205 billion have been signed with Kazakh companies. They are
involved at all stages, from engineering and the production of
equipment and materials to construction and installation works,"
KMG said.


During a meeting on major oil and gas chemical projects,
Khassenov also reviewed a report on the construction of the Gas
Separation Complex (GSC) at the Tengiz field and the main ethane
and propane pipelines, which will supply feedstock to future
petrochemical facilities.


The GSC project is more than 23% complete, with 17,344 piles
already installed. More than 2,800 people are currently involved in
its construction, over 77% of whom are residents of the Atyrau
region.