China’s Sinopec and Kazakh state-owned oil and gas company KazMunayGaz have agreed key terms for a potential investment in a polyethylene plant in Kazakhstan’s western Atyrau region, a statement by Sinopec said.

A final decision on the proposed investment will be made in 2024, the statement said.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the ongoing China-Central Asia Summit in Xian in China’s Shaanxi province, where China’s president Xi Jinping is meeting with the leaders of five ex-Soviet countries to discuss enhanced cooperation in a range of fields, including energy.

Xi met with Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday, where the two discussed deepening trade and economic ties between the countries.

China’s three main state-owned oil firms Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC have all previously made investments in Kazakhstan’s oil and gas sector. PetroChina is a member of the consortium that is currently developing the Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea – Kazakhstan’s second largest producing field – alongside Western oil majors and KazMunayGaz.

Investment between China and the five nations reached a record high of over $70 billion in 2022.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Andrew Hayley Editing by Bernadette Baum and Mark Potter)