Uzbekistan Eyes GTL Plant Completion by end-2020
Uzbekistan plans to complete its $3.6bn Oltin Yol gas-to-liquid plant (GTL) by end-2020, the energy ministry said February 11. The plant will convert 3.6bn m3/yr gas into 37,000 b/d of synthetic fuel.
Its neighbour Turkmenistan finished the first central Asian GTL last year, but has half the capacity of the Uzbek plant, producing 15,500 b/d of gasoline from 1.785bn m3/yr of gas.
State-run Uzbekneftegaz and South African Sasol together are developing the project, funded by Uzbekneftegaz and a range of Russian and Asian finance institutions. Last year, the total energy-related investments in the country stood at $2.97bn, of which over just over half, $1.56bn, came from abroad.
Energy minister Alisher Sultanov said this year will see gas and liquid hydrocarbon production higher than last year, or the same. “By 2030, we plan to increase petroleum products by 1.8 times, and natural gas production by 1.2 times," he said. Last year, the country produced about 60bn m3 commercial gas and 3mn metric tons of liquids, of which two-third was gas condensate. The ministry puts 2019 oil and gas exports at $3.87bn without elaborating on the volumes.