Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.9 / Trend E. Ismailov /
The Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is expecting an official request from the company's chief office in connection with bringing the quality of produced gasoline into line with the ecological standards Euro-3, a source in oil and gas market said on Tuesday.
According to him, the refinery has already announced plans for improving the quality of the produced gasoline, but an appropriate request should be sent for the submission of formal proposals from the chief office.
According to the source, at present, the plant is preparing a report on the capacity of the plant and work that could be carried out to improve the quality of produced products.
It is necessary to carry out the assembly of a benzene extraction installation, which will be located at the catalytic reforming installation. According to Euro-3, the benzene content in gasoline should not exceed one percent.
A senior SOCAR representative said earlier that the project cost will be $12-$13 million.
SOCAR intends to switch to Euro-3 gasoline production in 2012. Currently, SOCAR produces Euro-2 diesel fuel.
In 2010, SOCAR produced more than 1.45 million tons of gasoline compared to 1.47 million tons in 2009.