Air Liquide is increasing its presence in Kazakhstan through its 75% owned joint venture Air Liquide Munay Tech Gases (ALMTG). The joint venture will invest up to €86 MM to acquire and modernize hydrogen and nitrogen production units from Atyrau refinery owned by KazMunayGas.

In the framework of a new long-term agreement, ALMTG will operate these assets to supply industrial gases to the Atyrau refinery. Up to 200 MM Nm³ of hydrogen and up to 50 MM Nm³ of nitrogen will be produced annually on the site for different production processes, including desulfurization of fuels.

Air Liquide will bring its technical know-how, digital, and energy optimization expertise to modernize the assets at Atyrau and improve the overall CO2 footprint of the site. These assets will be connected to Air Liquide’s Smart & Innovative Operations Center in order to optimize their energy consumption as well as their flexibility and reliability.

ALMTG is a respectively 75% and 25% owned joint venture between Air Liquide and KazMunayGaz (KMG), the Kazakhstan National Oil & Gas company. For more than two years now, ALMTG has been successfully operating hydrogen and nitrogen production units for KMG’s refinery of Pavlodar. In the context of a contract announced in October 2019, ALMTG is also building a nitrogen production unit for a new petrochemical complex in Karabatan, near Atyrau, north of the Caspian sea, to be started in 2021.