MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th June, 2021) The liquid helium hub located near the Russian city of Vladivostok is expected to begin supplying international markets in the near future, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said on Wednesday.
"The helium hub for supplying helium to international markets will be commissioned in the near future," Miller said during the opening ceremony of the Amur Gas Processing Plant (GPP), as broadcast by the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.
The construction of the Amur GPP, with a processing capacity of 42 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, has been underway since 2015. It receives gas from the Power of Siberia pipeline. Gazprom itself has estimated the cost of the construction at 950 billion rubles ($13 billion).
The Amur GPP will annually produce up to 38 billion cubic meters of gas that is supplied to China, up to 60 million cubic meters of helium, about 2.5 million tons of ethane, 1 million tons of propane, 500,000 tons of butane, and 200,000 tons of the pentane-hexane fraction. The plant is expected to reach full capacity in 2025.
After the Amur GPP is fully commissioned, Gazprom's refining capacities will increase by 80%, while ethane production will surge seven-fold. The production of helium will also soar 16 times, covering roughly a third of the current global consumption volumes.
