Azerbaijan plans to launch construction of new OGPC by late 2013
By Gulgiz Dadashova
Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR is keen on launching construction of a new oil-gas processing and petrochemical complex (OGPC) worth $17 billion by late 2013.
The project envisions construction of a petrochemical enterprise with capacity of 1.7 million tons of finished products, an oil refinery with capacity of 10 million tons per year as well as a gas processing plant with capacity of 10 billion cubic meters per year.
SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said that work is currently underway on the final construction draft of the complex.
"We will try to start specific work by late this year," Abdullayev said.
The complex, located 60 kilometers from the Azerbaijani capital Baku, is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2020. Payback of the facility is expected in 7-8 years.
The depth of oil processing at the plant will be about 95 percent, and the yield of light oil products - 85 percent.
In the long term, the gas processing plant's capacity will be increased to 15 billion cubic meters a year.
A thermal power plant with capacity of 250 megawatts will be built as part of the new complex as well.
Azerbaijan sees growth in the consumption of petroleum products year on year, but SOCAR has assured that available processing enterprises will provide the country with the required amount of oil products until the new complex comes on stream.
Currently, oil products are produced at two Baku refineries with a total capacity of 20 million tons of oil a year. Both refineries are part of SOCAR, which annually processes about 6 million tons of oil from onshore and offshore fields on its own.
In April, Azerbaijan's State Statistics Committee reported that around 1.18 million tons of oil products were delivered to the domestic market in January-March 2013 or 15.9 percent more than in the same period of 2012.
75.1 percent of the total volume of petroleum products delivered to customers was sold on the domestic market, while the remaining 24.9 percent was exported.
Around 4.8 million tons of petroleum products were delivered to the Azerbaijani market in 2012, 8.8 percent more than in 2011.