Occidental to Join Soviet Oil Venture

American industrialist Armand Hammer announced plans today to join with the Italian company Montedison SPA and Marubeni Corp. of Japan to build a giant petrochemical complex in the Soviet Union.

Under terms of an agreement with the Soviet Oil Industries Ministry, the Soviet Union will provide the gas liquids and sulfur produced at its Tengiz oil field near the Caspian Sea in exchange for 51% ownership of the joint venture.

Hammer said his Occidental Petroleum Corp., Montedison and Marubeni will seek other private partners for the project, which is expected to cost $5 billion to $6 billion and should be operating in 1995.

If the project lives up to expectations, it will be the largest joint venture of its kind in the Soviet Union and one of the largest petrochemical plants in the world.