Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.14
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
Enterprises of Azerkimya Production Association (main manufacturer of chemical products in Azerbaijan) will function as long as the supply of raw materials can be obtained from the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev, the head of Azerkimya Mukhtar Babayev told Trend.
Azerkimya Production Association, as well as the Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev, is a part of SOCAR. Structure of the Production Association is as follows: Ethylene-Polyethylene plants, surfactants plants, Organic Synthesis, mechanical repair plants; Kimyaelmitedgigatlayihe Institute; repair and construction management; management of transport and special equipment; warehousing.
A decision was made to reconstruct the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev, and that it will continue to work for another 15 years within the framework of meeting Azerbaijan's fuel needs and taking into account the implementation of major oil and gas projects of SOCAR. In particular, plans are to conduct the renovation of the plant and construction of seven or eight new facilities worth about 1 billion AZN. Work is scheduled to be completed in late 2018 - early 2019. This will increase the capacity of the company from 6 to 8 million metric tons, while production of gasoline up to 3 million metric tons a year.
By 2030 the State Oil Company plans to launch a new refinery as part of a complex construction on oil and gas processing and petrochemical production in Azerbaijan (OGPC).
"While the Baku refinery works and it produces the raw materials, we (Azerkimya) will recycle it," said Babayev.
Plans are to construct a gas processing plant and an enterprise for the production of petrochemical products as part of the OGPC first phase. Implementation is planned by 2020.
Babayev said that with the launch of a new petrochemical production in the country both companies (meaning also Azerkimya) will be run in parallel.
Speaking about the market for the sale of products from the two companies, Babayev said that most of the products of Azerkimya will be aimed at providing the domestic needs of the country, and products of the new petrochemical plant will mainly be exported.
The capacity of a gas processing plant will be 12 billion cubic meters per year, while chemical production - 860,000 metric tons of polymer products per year. After investigation it was decided to waive the naphtha as raw material on the petrochemical enterprise and to switch to work on gas.
The total cost of the first phase of the project is estimated at $7 billion (including interest on loans - $8.45 billion). Payback period will be four to five years. The project will be implemented at the expense of public funds by 30 percent (the amount will be released in installments during five years), and 70 percent at the expense of the borrowed funds.
OGPC will be located 60 kilometers from Baku and will consist of three processing enterprises and a thermal power plant (TPP).
The OGPC construction project implementation will improve the product quality, enhance the export potential of the country and help protect the environment of the capital.
Currently, oil products in Azerbaijan are produced at two Baku oil refineries. SOCAR also has Azerkimya Production Association and the gas processing plant on its balance sheet.