BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 13. It is necessary to increase the output of the Shymkent oil refinery from the current 6 million tons to 12 million tons, Alikhan Smailov, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan said, Trend reports, citing the press service of the Kazakh PM.
He noted that it is necessary to scrap the old plan, which envisioned boosting the production output of the plant to 9 million tons.
“We do not need half measures. Significant investments will be made into the project, therefore, we need to increase the annual output by 6 million tons. Domestic demand keeps increasing, and it is necessary to support the economy by increasing the production level”, Smailov added.
The Shymkent Oil Refinery processed a record 6.2 million tons of crude oil in 2022, and while the discussions on the necessity to increase the output have been around for a while, the prime minister’s statement is the key indication outlining the government’s intentions.
Earlier, the plant completed its scheduled repair. It was revealed that the refinery plans to process 366,000 tons of crude oil and produce 110,100 tons of gasoline, 114,800 tons of diesel fuel, 15,100 tons of liquefied petroleum gas, 19,300 tons of aviation fuel, and 77,600 tons of fuel oil in April.