Azerbaijan, Baku, 21 September/ Trend / The State Oil Company (SOCAR) has worked out a conception of establishment of new petrochemical complex in the country and has set up a project group to deal with project, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said to official media. The cost of the news complex is estimated at €20bln.
By 2018, SOCAR plans to put into operation up-to-date oil refinery and petrochemical complexes, complex for deep gas refining and chemical fertilizes plant. The new complex will be located in Sangachal.
Gas refinery and fertilizer plant is expected to be founded at a first stage. The construction of this complex is expected to end by 2012.
The oil refining complex will refine sulfur oil. It will enable to refine all kinds of oil extracted in Azerbaijan (excluding Azeri Light which is exported) and also oil from the eastern shore of the Caspian. The oil refining complex is expected to refine 10mln tons of oil a year.
The capacity of gas refinery will total to 20bln cu m of gas a year with a further expansion of 30bln to 40bln cu m of gas a year. SOCAR also plans to refine gas extracted from Shah Deniz field. The volume of refined gas from Shah Deniz field can reach 3bln cu m.
Azerbaijan produces oil products in two oil refineries - Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev and Azneftyag oil refinery with capacity of 20mln tons a year. Both oil refineries belong to SOCAR who refines over 6mln tons of oil a year extracted in onshore and offshore fields independently.
The equipment in these refineries will be dismantled while news oil refining complex will be built in Sangachal. The dismantled equipment may be used in other plants that SOCAR can establish abroad.
Azerbaijan refines gas in the Azerbaijan Gas Refinery. The first line of the plant was commissioned in 1961. In addition to six gas refining units, there are also gas condensate refining units with a capacity of 675,000 tons a year and units for fractionating of instable petroleum with a capacity of 600,000 tons a year.
The old refineries will be fully dismantled once new gas refinery is built.