BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 22
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The Georgian government has made a decision to postpone the application of Euro-5 diesel fuel standard in Georgia until 1 January 2021, Trend reports referring to the Georgian government.
"After the Azerbaijani side will start production of diesel fuel in full compliance with European standards (Euro-5), Georgia will begin to purchase this type of fuel from SOCAR," the Georgian government’s statement said.
The Azerbaijani side has already started the modernization of Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery, which will allow the refinery to supply products that meet Euro 5 standard.
The first phase of modernization included a new bitumen plant and liquid gas filling station, which increased the production of bitumen from 250,000 to 400,000 ton a year. The second phase of modernization will use Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technology to supply the high-quality hydrogen to increase the production of Euro-5 diesel fuel. The third phase will allow the refinery to produce Euro-5-standard A-92/95/98 gasoline.
Modernization of Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery will allow the production of Euro-5 fuel and increase annual production, Ibrahim Ahmadov, deputy head of the public relations and events department at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, told Trend.
According to him, the second and third stages of the reconstruction and modernization of the plant are currently being implemented.
"The plant produces 15 types of oil products, including automobile gasoline, aviation fuel, diesel fuel, fuel oil, petroleum coke, etc. Within the framework of the reconstruction project in 2021-2022, Azerbaijan plans to produce diesel fuel and gasoline of Euro-5. In the years 2024-2025 it is planned to increase production to 7.5 million tons," said Ahmadov.
According to Ahmadov, in the future it is also planned to produce high-octane gasoline A-95 and A-98. Naturally, this process will be carried out in accordance with market demand and supply.
Azerbaijan is the main supplier of diesel fuel in Georgia, and it is cheaper by 15 tetri compared with the price of fuel from Russia. The main diesel suppliers to Georgia after Azerbaijan are Russia, Romania and Bulgaria.
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