BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 12. Details of the Memorandum of Strategic Cooperation signed on March 11 between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and KazMunayGas (KMG) in Baku regarding the purchase and sale of Kazakh oil for further processing at the oil refineries of the SOCAR group have been revealed, an informed source told Trend.
According to the source, SOCAR is planning to purchase certain volumes of oil from KMG for processing at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery for the first time.
"The Heydar Aliyev Refinery is being modernized to accept all types of oil from Caspian countries, and negotiations with Kazakhstan on supplying Kazakh oil to this refinery have been ongoing since 2022. The parties are now detailing the agreement, as the modernization of the Baku Oil Refinery is nearing completion," the source mentioned.
The source didn't disclose the volumes of Kazakh oil for the Baku Oil Refinery but noted that upon completion of the reconstruction of this plant, it will be able to process 7.5 million tons of oil per year, of which 5.5-6 million tons will be Azerbaijani oil.
Currently, the Baku refinery processes only Azerbaijani oil (about six million tons per year).
The plant currently produces 30 types of petroleum products (automobile gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel, liquefied hydrocarbon gas, fuel oil, lubricating oils, petroleum coke, bitumen, etc.), while 10 percent of all manufactured oil products are exported.
The full completion of the phased reconstruction project of the Baku Oil Refinery is planned for 2027. The basic production facilities are replaced, and new, modern facilities meeting global standards are introduced.