TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, February 18. Large enterprises in Uzbekistan produced 770,100 tons of oil from January through December 2023, Trend reports.
The data from Uzbekistan’s Statistics Agency shows that the volume of production decreased by 17,700 tons year-on-year (to 787,800 tons).
The share of oil production by large enterprises amounted to 97.7 percent year-on-year.
In total, the output of mining and quarrying enterprises amounted to 55.2 trillion soums ($4.4 billion), or 8.4 percent of the total industry volume in 2023.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan's Fergana Oil Refinery has launched a large-scale program to improve the quality of base oils produced. The program envisages modernization of the atmospheric-vacuum column as well as repairs to production units manufacturing mineral base oils. The goal of the program is to bring the physical and chemical characteristics of the oils to the indicators meeting the best European standards.
As part of the first stage of the program, the replacement of the catalyst on the base oil hydrotreating column was carried out. This unit performs deep purification of oil chases from sulfur, nitrogen, aromatic hydrocarbons, and resinous asphaltene substances that negatively affect the oxidation stability, corrosion characteristics, and color of oils.