TOKYO (Press release) – Marubeni Corp. has been awarded a contract for the Atyrau Refinery Modernization Project Phase 3 in Kazakhstan as part of a consortium with SINOPEC Engineering and KazStroyService. The total project amount is approximately $1.7 billion.

Owned by KazMunayGas, the Atyrau Refinery is the largest refinery in Kazakhstan, processing 100,000 bbl of crude oil per day. In this third phase, the plan is to reinforce the production of oil products to suit European environmental standards by installing new processing equipment, including FCC (fluid catalytic cracker) units. Furthermore, as this project is part of the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, it is strongly expected to contribute to the economic development of the country and further the introduction of Japanese technology in Kazakhstan.

SINOPEC Engineering is the core engineering subsidiary of SINOPEC, one of China’s largest oil refining and petrochemical companies. SINOPEC Engineering has carried out many EPC projects in China and has been expanding its project execution capability in recent years having won contracts for overseas EPC projects. Marubeni and SINOPEC Engineering signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement on July 13, 2010 aiming to further participation in overseas PC projects through a mutually beneficial partnership.