BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
Uzbekistan increased gasoline production by 18.5 percent in the period from January to April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 - up to 365,800 tons, Trend reports with reference to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan.
From January through April 2020, the volume of diesel fuel production was 363,400 tons, 6.4 percent more than in the same period of 2019.
At the same time, Uzbekistan increased oil production by 0.06 percent in the period from January through April 2020, compared to the same period in 2019 - up to 232,600 tons.
Currently, three large oil refineries including Bukhara, Ferghana and Altyarik with a total capacity of 11.1 million tons operate in Uzbekistan. However, the capacity of the enterprises is no more than 30 percent.
In December 2017, the construction of the Jizzakh Refinery, which cost $2.2 billion and has a capacity of processing of 5 million tons of oil, has begun. Its construction was planned to be completed by 2021. However, in December 2018 the project was put on hold, and Uzbekistan announced the revision of the concept to increase capacity through modernization of existing refineries.
In particular, it is planned to modernize Ferghana and Altyarik refineries worth $875 million by 2022 in three phases in partnership with American Honeywell UOP, French Axens and Danish Haldor Topsoe. Starting from 2020, it was planned to produce high-quality diesel fuel meeting the Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards.
The modernization of the Bukhara Refinery worth $533 million is also planned to be carried out in three stages in partnership with South Korean SK Engineering to be completed by 2025.
In March 2020, Bukhara Refinery started production of high-quality Euro-4 and Euro-5 class diesel fuel, with an initial capacity of 100,000 tons per year. Installation and commissioning work was carried out with online support of specialists from the French Axens company.
---
Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini