Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.12 /Trend A. Akhundov /
It is necessary to use not only Azerbaijani oil, but also other countries' oil as raw material to ensure cost efficiency of construction of an oil refinery in Kyrgyzstan, a senior representative of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) said on Tuesday.
"Construction of an oil refinery in Kyrgyzstan is an initiative of that country's leadership. In Baku, we are paying great attention to this issue and are making holistic economic estimates. A great number of our specialists, as well as leadership of the company went to Bishkek. We have considered the practicality of oil refining in Kyrgyzstan," SOCAR representative said.
He said after the studies and evaluation, it turned out that that the transportation of Azerbaijani oil to Kyrgyzstan, in case of the construction of SOCAR's oil refinery there, is not profitable
To ensure the cost efficiency of oil refining at a potential Kyrgyz oil refinery, it is necessary to attract oil from neighboring countries such as Russia and Kazakhstan.
As a SOCAR representative said, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan has informed the government of Kyrgyzstan that it should get a guarantee of long-term oil supplies at world prices (with deduction of transport costs) for refining to be cost-effective.
An agreement on considering construction of SOCAR oil refinery in Kyrgyzstan was reached by the parties on Jan.19, 2012 at a meeting of Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev and SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev.