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Modernization of Baku Oil Refinery to be completed by late 2018 - head of SOCAR

Economy Materials 14 September 2015 16:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 14

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

The process of modernization of the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev will be completed by late 2018, the head of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters Sept.14.

"After the completion of modernization the issue of liquidation of the Azneftyag refinery and the transfer of its territory to Baku City Executive Power will be resolved," said Abdullayev.

SOCAR announced about liquidation of Azneftyag oil refinery on January 1, 2015 and its merger with Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev as part of work on improving and optimization of SOCAR's structure. But each of them continues operating, because a physical merger doesn't mean that some of the workshops will stop working.

This decision was taken as part of the work to improve and optimize the structure of SOCAR.

Abdullayev said that the process of unification of the two refineries is taking place fast.

"Several large groups of specialists work on the project," said Abdullayev. "The project has already entered the FID stage (final investment decision). We think that the process of modernization of the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev and construction of bitumen plants will start by late 2015. We will complete the work on the modernization of the refinery and start production of Euro-5 gasoline and diesel fuel by late 2018. Thus, by the mid 2030s demand for gasoline and diesel fuel in Azerbaijan will be met at the refinery named after Heydar Aliyev."

He went on to add that the bitumen rig at Azneftyag will continue its work for now.

"It will be stopped by late 2017, when we complete the construction of a new bitumen plant with capacity of 500,000 tons per year," said Abdullayev. "For this reason, a deficit in the bitumen in Azerbaijan is not expected."

In total, over 5.31 million tons of petroleum products were produced in Azerbaijan in 2014, compared to 5.09 million tons in 2013.

-edited by CN

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Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov

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