Ust-kut, 13 August 2013 (IA “Teleinform) – Implementation of gas-chemical facilities project to use feedstock from the fields in the northern part of the region was discussed at the meeting headed by Sergey Eroschenko, Irkutsk Oblast Governor, in Ust-Kut on 13 August.
Marina Sedykh, Director General of Irkutsk Oil Company (INK), presented proposals on gas distribution network development in northern areas of Irkutsk Oblast. The potential investment project for development of gas reserves includes construction of about 500km of gas and product pipelines, which will support transportation of gas feedstock from the fields to Ust-Kut. Potential enhancement of the project to add the construction of a gas chemical plant in the vicinity of Ust-Kut is also evaluated. It is expected that 450 new jobs will be created.
A short time ago Irkutsk Oil Company announced that it was conducting a research on a gas-chemical complex construction in the north of Irkutsk Oblast. On 1 August, at the regional government meeting on the creation of a gas processing cluster Marina Sedykh, the company’s Director General, was quoted as saying that the company was commencing a feasibility study for a potential investment project to develop gas reserves of Yaraktinskoye, Markovskoye and Zapadno-Ayanskoye petroleum fields. Construction of complex gas treatment facilities was also considered within the project. By applying a cryogenic technology the company intended to achieve a high (up to 96%) extraction of valuable components from the produced natural and associated petroleum gas. The project made provisions for 500km of gas and product pipelines to transport gas feedstock from the fields to Ust-Kut.
The regional government has embarked on a course of creating a number of industrial clusters including the petrochemical one. In the regional government opinion, Irkutsk Oblast is best prepared for development of Eastern Siberia’s petrochemical cluster. In recent years, the regional oil and gas industry has seen accelerated growth: in 2012 the annual oil production increased over 25 times in comparison with 2008. The tax incentives at the federal and regional levels have played a defining role in this growth.
Irkutsk Oblast has already got several large-scale oil-processing and petrochemical centers located in Angarsk and Sayansk, which have a great technical and human resources potential to become a basis for high-volume gas processing development.
The regional government supports construction of new industrial facilities for the petrochemical cluster by providing property and income tax exemptions, assistance in getting federal tax reliefs to attract investments to the regional industry.