Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22
Trend:
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) plans to increase oil refining by 3.1 percent to 6.7 million tonnes of crude in 2014 on rising domestic fuel demand, reuters reported referring to SOCAR Vice-President Davud Mamedov.
"SOCAR will increase volumes of oil procession on its existing refineries because of rising consumption of oil products, especially a petrol," he said.
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan is the only producer of oil products and has two refineries on its balance sheet. One of them is the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery that focuses on the production of light petroleum products, and the second is Azneftyag Refinery that produces dark petroleum products. The total capacity of these two refineries is 16 million tons of oil per year.
Mamedov said both plants had resumed output on May 15 after maintenance.
"Repairs at the refineries will allow increased production of petrol to 1.5 million tonnes this year from 1.4 million tonnes in 2013," he said.
Both plants were built and commissioned in the Soviet period, and therefore require modernization and renovation. Furthermore, SOCAR plans to build a new complex for oil and gas refining and petrochemical production in order to improve the ecological situation in Baku, as well as to meet growing demand for petroleum products. The complex will be located 60 km away from Baku.