Details added (first version posted on 16:40)
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 1
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) will allocate funds for financing the modernization and reconstruction of the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery of the country’s state oil company SOCAR, Tofig Gahramanov, SOCAR vice-president for strategic development, told reporters on the sidelines of the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference 2017 in Baku June 1.
According to him, it is also planned to attract a foreign loan under the state guarantee for modernization of SOCAR’s Azerikimya Production Union.
“Modernization of the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery will be fully financed by the state. These issues were resolved at the state level last month. That is, the part needed now to finance the modernization work will be allocated in US dollars by SOFAZ. Most likely, these funds will be used to increase the authorized capital of SOCAR,” noted the vice-president.
He said that 1,5 years ago, UOP and Fluor companies prepared a feasibility study for the modernization of the oil refinery and the Azerikimya Production Union.
“Then the estimated cost of work was $1.3 billion. About $300 million of these funds were supposed to be spent on Azerikimya, and about $1 billion for modernization of the refinery. Then we studied this in more detail. A more accurate value is determined after the completion of tender procedures. Today, the cost of projects is estimated at $1.8 billion. Modernization of the refinery will require about $1.5 billion and $320-340 million will be spent on the modernization of Azerikimya,” added Gahramanov.
According to him, as of now, about 400 million manats have been spent as part of both projects.
The vice-president also added that in August, the activity of Baku Oil Refinery will be stopped for a month in order to carry out routine maintenance work as part of the modernization.
The Baku Oil Refinery’s modernization process will be completed until 2020. The refinery’s processing capacity will increase from 6 to 7.5 million tons of oil per year.
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