Upgrading of Baku Oil Refinery underway
By Rasana Gasimova
Azerbaijan is upgrading its Heydar Aliyev Oil refinery, which is the largest oil refinery in the South Caucasus with the daily output of 1200,000 barrels.
The construction of new facilities at the refinery advanced by 63 percent out of the initial volume of work, SOCAR informed in its official website.
The upgrading of the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery and the implementation of SOCAR Polymer projects were discussed during SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev’s meeting with the delegation led by Fabrizio Di Amato, chairman of the Italian Maire Tecnimont group of companies, which is the main contractor for the construction of new facilities during the modernization of the refinery.
The role of the newly created SOCAR Downstream company, which controls the accelerated and highly efficient implementation and optimization of the project was emphasized during the meeting.
It was noted that during the modernization period, the refinery does not stop its activity, and the reconstruction is carried out along with the production processes at the refinery operating at full capacity, which is why the upgrading of the refinery is considered a complex project.
Meanwhile, Rovnag Abdullayev met with a delegation led by Giuseppe Zuccaro, president and CEO of the Italian Amec Foster Wheeler company, which is a part of the Wood Group.
Addressing the meeting, Abdullayev said that the upgrade which is carried out at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery is under the control of the Azerbaijani leadership, noting that it is an important project for the country.
During the meeting, the sides discussed the ongoing modernization of the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery, cooperation with the Italian company - a contractor for structure optimization and project management, as well as the successful activity of SOCAR Foster Wheeler, a joint venture of SOCAR, as well as the role of the newly created SOCAR Downstream company in the project.
Giuseppe Zuccaro noted that Amec Foster Wheeler has been cooperating with SOCAR for more than 10 years, adding that more than 60,000 employees work in the companies belonging to the Wood Group, of which 9,000 employees work in the oil refining and petrochemical industries.
“The cooperation of SOCAR and Wood Group, which started with the STAR project in Turkey, is currently underway in the process of modernizing the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery," Zuccaro said.
The sides also exchanged views on the activity of SOCAR Foster Wheeler joint venture, established in 2012.
Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery is processing 21 out of 24 grades of Azerbaijan crude and 15 different petroleum products, including automotive gasoline, aviation kerosene, diesel fuel, black oil, petroleum coke, and others. The plant is meeting the republic’s entire demand for petroleum products completely. Some 45 percent of its petroleum products are exported.
The plant’s annual capacity of varies between 4-6 million tons, with the prospect of increasing to 10 million tons.
Modernization of the refinery stated in 2019 and will be completed in 2021. After modernization, the refinery’s production capacity will be raised from six million to eight million tons per year, and useful life of plant will be extended to 2040.
In October-November 2019 modernization and reconstruction of the refinery’s four main technological units - a device for the primary processing of fuel for diesel and jet engines, catalytic cracking device for obtaining gasoline and liquid gases, a coking device for producing other oil products, and catalytic reforming units - was conducted.
The estimated cost of the refinery’s modernization is approximately $2.2 billion.
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