Talks on Construction of ORP in Ceyhan Launch in Istanbul
Kazakhstan, Astana / corr Trend K.Konirova / The next round of talks on the construction of the oil refinery plant in the Turkish port of Ceyhan began in Istanbul on 20 November, a source at KazMunayGas said.
Saduahos Miraliyev, KazMunayGas Executive Director for Petro-chemistry and oil refinery, led the Kazakh delegation. Sides in the talks are to define the future composition of the consortium which will be involved in the implementation of the project, he said.
They are expected to be KazMunayGas and Eni of Italy, which are experiencing a difficult period of negotiation on another project, envisaging the development of Kashagan field.
A year ago KazMunayGas launched talks with the Turkish Government on the allocation of land for the future construction. Turkey is presently experiencing a shortage of oil refining facilities.
At the beginning three companies KazMunayGas of Kazakhstan, Oil India of India, and Calik Enerji of Turkey, held talks on joint partners in this project.
Italian ENI, which acts as operator in the project on development of the Kashagan field, the biggest in the Kazakh section of the Caspian Sea, and construction of the Transanatloian pipeline ( Samsun - Ceyhan) has voiced their intention of joining the alliance KazMunayGas - Oil India - Calik Enerji, despite its problems over the Kashagan field. Inclusion of Eni to the future consortium on the construction of an ORP in Ceyhan is not being ruled out.
The Italian company's interest in the Ceyhan project has been fully justified. They are also part of a project on the Trans-Anatolian oil pipeline (renamed Samsun-Ceyhan), which is being built for the future Kashagan oil.
Over the next two days a final decision on the future participants in the consortium will be made. Afterwards, it is planned to launch the ORP construction next year.
The production capacity of the new plant in Ceyhan will comprise 15-20mln tons of oil products a year and the cost of the project exceeds $5bln.
"In the near future, the three different pipes will meet in the area of the Ceyhan Port, which will therefore receive up to 170mln tons of oil per year in aggregate," stressed the source. It is more than that of the world famous port in Rotterdam, which accepts approximately 150mln tons of 'black oil'.
The construction of the oil refinery is intended to be completed in 2012. The plant will produce a large selection of oil products ranging from all types of high quality petrol, mazut, diesel fuel, aviation kerosene and petrochemical products. The participants of the project signed a Memorandum of Understanding and agreement of shareholders at the end of August in Astana.
