Baku, Azerbaijan, June 23
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR intends to increase the depth of oil processing up to 97 percent at Baku Oil Refinery after the completion of its modernization, a source in SOCAR told Trend.
The source added that in 2016 this figure will be 90 percent.
“In 2015, the processing depth was 91.4 percent, and we expect the figure of 90 percent for 2016,” said the source. “This is due to modernization process underway at the plant, as well as the fact that SOCAR plans to slightly increase the production of fuel oil due to the growth of its consumption in the country which is observed due to the fact that it became more profitable for power plants to use fuel oil instead of gas.”
The source added that the maximum figure of oil processing depth obtained by SOCAR at its refineries amounted up to 96 percent.
“Upon completion of the modernization, the processing depth will be increased,” said the source. “It will reach 97 percent, according to estimates.”
Modernization of the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery will be completed by late 2020.
After the completion of the reconstruction, the processing capacity of the refinery will increase from 6 million to 7.5 million tons of oil per year.
SOCAR announced the liquidation of Azneftyag oil refinery and its merger with the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery in January of 2015. This decision was made as part of the work to improve and optimize SOCAR's structure.
Azerbaijan produced 5.45 million tons of oil products in 2015, compared to 5.31 million tons in 2014.