Azerbaijan’s first methanol plant to be commissioned soon
By Aynur Jafarova
The Azerbaijani Methanol Company's (AzMeCo) methanol plant, the first ever in Azerbaijan and in the South Caucasus region, will be commissioned in the coming months, Azerbaijan Telegraph Agency reported last week.
According to AzMeCo, the construction work on the territory of the plant has fully finished. The plant will be commissioned as soon as some technical issues are resolved.
The plant was originally scheduled to be commissioned in December, 2012, with the first products to be delivered to the customers in the first quarter of 2013.
An agreement on the sale, purchase and marketing of Azerbaijani methanol was signed in London within the framework of the first Caspian Corridor Conference organized by CityUK in cooperation with the International Bank of Azerbaijan and Asia House in November 2012.
The British BP Company received the vendor status for the entire output of the company.
Investments in the construction of the plant amounted $350 million without interests pay. According to the plan, the design capacity of the plant which is supplied with British Johnson Matthey Company's ICI technologies is expected to be 720,000 tons per year.
AzMeCo was founded in November 2007 to invest in petrochemical projects as an owner and operator. In addition to its portfolio of international hydrocarbon investments in the Caspian basin, AzMeCo created a master plan of investment in the non oil sector of Azerbaijan. The company has constructed a methanol plant which is the only in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.