Baku, Azerbaijan, May 8
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
The UK can participate in financing the Jizzakh oil refinery construction project, Uzbek media reported on May 8.
The UK Export Finance (UKEF) has expressed interest in financing the project. Negotiations between the two countries were held in April 2018 in London within the framework of the first UK-Uzbek “Investment Potential of the Oil and Gas Industry of Uzbekistan” energy forum.
During the the forum, Uzbekneftegaz presented a project to build a new modern oil refinery in the Jizzakh region with a processing capacity of up to 5 million tons of oil per year.
The advantage of the new refinery is that it will receive raw materials by the pipeline directly from Russia and Kazakhstan. One of the lines of the Omsk-Pavlodar-Shymkent oil pipeline stretches to the area near the Jizzakh region. From there, a 100-kilometer pipeline will be connected to the complex, which will allow supplying oil at minimal cost.
The refinery will produce 3.1 million tons of Euro-5 motor fuel, more than 1 million tons of aviation kerosene, as well as liquefied gas, mazut, bitumen and other products. Over 2,000 jobs will be created with the commissioning of the Jizzakh oil refinery.
The complex is designed by British Wood-Amec Foster Wheeler company. The US-based White & Case acts as a legal consultant, British Argus Media as a marketing consultant, Russian Gazprombank as a financial and British ERM Ltd. as an environmental consultant.
Framework agreements on financing of the project with large banks such as the Korean Eximbank, the State Development Bank of China, Gazprombank and Credit Suisse have already been signed.
The UKEF is planning to finance 1.25 billion pounds worth of investment projects in the oil and gas industry of Uzbekistan. A Memorandum between the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan and the UKEF was signed for this purpose about a month ago.
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