Baku, Azerbaijan, April 12
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) plans to start the construction of a gas processing plant in 2015 under the project for creation of a new Oil and Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex (OGPC), a senior representative of SOCAR told journalists on April 12.
The plant will be ready for operation in 2019 and the oil and gas facility will be commissioned a bit later (with the interval of six months), according to the company's senior representative.
"Given the high prices for petrochemical products in world markets, we have an opportunity to quickly refund the investments made in the project," the source said.
SOCAR's representative added that all facilities of the refinery will be commissioned in 2023.
It is planned to produce up to 2.5 million tons of gasoline, 3.2 million tons of diesel fuel and one million tons of aviation kerosene at the new complex.
The complex will be located in 60 kilometers from Baku and will consist of three processing enterprises and a thermal power plant (TPP).
The first phase of the project will be implemented within two years. The entire project will be implemented within eight years.
The cost of construction of the OGPC is $17.1 billion (including interest on loans received during the construction period). Some 30 percent of the project's cost is planned to finance with the authorized capital (nearly $5 billion), while 70 percent of the projects cost is planned to finance with the borrowed capital (about $12 billion). The profitability of the complex will be 13 percent and the payback period of investments will cover from seven to eight years.
It is planned to use technological processes at the complex using more than 27 special licenses. In total, over 40 modern facilities will be commissioned at the complex. Oil refining depth will be increased to 95 percent, while the yield of light oil products will be increased to 85 percent.
The construction and commissioning of the refinery with capacity of 10 million tons per year will meet the country's demands for strategic oil products in next 20 years.
Moreover, it is planned to produce a little more that one million tons of export-oriented petrochemical products per year at the complex.
The demand of the Azerbaijani population and production facilities for the purified natural gas will be fully provided by the gas processing plant with capacity of 10-12 billion cubic meters per year.
Translated by L.Z.