PetroChina Tarim Oilfield's cumulative ethane production exceeds 4 million tons

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 10, PetroChina Tarim Oilfield's cumulative ethane production reached 4.08 million tons, surpassing the 4 million ton mark. Since the natural gas ethane recovery project was put into operation, the related facilities have cumulatively processed 56 billion cubic meters of natural gas while producing 2.8 million tons of light hydrocarbons, liquefied petroleum gas and other products. Tarim Energy Company, located in Luntai County, Xinjiang, currently has an annual natural gas processing capacity of 25 billion cubic meters.

The natural gas ethane recovery project of Tarim Oilfield entered trial operation in July 2021 and underwent completion environmental protection acceptance in July 2022. The project is located in Lunnan Town, Luntai County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. The initially built ethane recovery unit was designed to process 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, with supporting facilities for dehydration and mercury removal, light hydrocarbon recovery, ethane decarbonization and product export.

The project adopts propane precooling, expander refrigeration and dual reflux processes to separate ethane, liquefied petroleum gas and stabilized light hydrocarbons from natural gas. The original plant area has an 87.5-kilometer liquefied petroleum gas export pipeline and a 125-kilometer ethane export pipeline, of which ethane is transported through a dedicated pipeline to the Korla Shangku Industrial Park to supply downstream ethylene production units.

The natural gas deep processing expansion project plan announced in 2023 is planned to invest approximately 3.133 billion yuan, adding two natural gas ethane recovery units with a capacity of 5 billion cubic meters per year each, along with supporting facilities for natural gas boosting, dehydration and mercury removal, product decarbonization and export systems. The expansion portion is designed to produce 606,000 tons of ethane, 303,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas and 61,000 tons of stabilized light hydrocarbons annually.

In July 2026, PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical's Tarim 1.2 million ton/year Phase II ethylene and supporting green low-carbon demonstration project was put into feed trial operation in the Korla Shangku Industrial Park and produced qualified ethylene. The project uses ethane and other light hydrocarbon feedstocks extracted from deep processing of natural gas from Tarim Oilfield, with supporting facilities for ethylene cracking and downstream chemical production.