Sasol plans gas-to-liquids project in Uzbekistan
South African energy and chemicals group Sasol signed an investment agreement with the Uzbekistan government to develop a gas-to-liquids (GTL) project in Uzbekistan.
The agreement was completed with project partners Uzbekneftegaz and PETRONAS, according to Sasol officials.
Sasol CEO David Constable said the ability to harness the benefits of natural gas to make cleaner transport fuels is a key element of a lower emissions energy future.
"GTL technology is the most cost effective way of achieving this and, as a world leader in GTL, Sasol is very pleased to be working with partners who have both the vision to see the opportunity and the capacity to act on it," he said.
The conclusion of the investment agreement is an important milestone in the development of the GTL project in which Sasol and Uzbekneftegaz each hold 44.5% interest and PETRONAS an 11% interest.
The GTL project will reduce Uzbekistan's dependence on the importation of crude oil and transportation fuels and will diversify the utilisation of its domestic gas resources, officials said.
The GTL project will also improve the quality of the fuel pool, reducing emissions, thereby securing the associated environmental benefits.
Uzbekneftegaz will supply the feedstock from the already developed Shurtan group of gas fields and will off-take the majority of the production, under long-term arrangements.
The next phase will be the front-end engineering and design of the GTL project, which will commence before the end of the year 2011.
Depending on the final investment decision, the plant will be operational in the second half of this decade, officials said.
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