Foreign investors show interest in SOCAR's OGPC project
By Aynur Karimova
Various foreign investors have shows an interest when it comes to participating in the project of a new Oil-Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex in Azerbaijan; and in this regard Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR has received concrete proposals.
This remark was made by Tofig Gahramanov, SOCAR vice president for strategic development, at the 22nd international Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference in Baku on June 4.
"We have received several concrete proposals and started negotiations with prospective partners,” Gahramanov said. "If the negotiations are completed successfully, the subsequent stages of the project can be implemented jointly with partners."
The OGPC project has multiple interfaces not only between process units, utilities and offsite facilities, but also between the new gas processing and petrochemical facilities. The cost of the project amounts to $17.1 billion, including the interest rates of the loans to be received during construction works.
The OGPC construction project implementation will improve the product quality, enhance the export potential of the country and help protect the environment of the capital.
The annual capacity of the refinery as part of OGPC will be 8.5-9 million metric tons; the gas processing plant will be 12 billion cubic meters, petrochemical production will exceed 1 million metric tons (the power of the plant for the production of polyethylene will be 800,000 metric tons, rigs for polypropylene production – 300,000 metric tons).
SOCAR to produce Euro-5 gasoline in 2018
Gahramanov went on adding that SOCAR will start the production of Euro-5 gasoline by 2018. This will be possible as a result of modernization of the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev.
"The gasoline production in Azerbaijan will increase from 1.3 to 2.2 million metric tons, the production of diesel fuel - from 2.3 to 2.9 million metric tons, while the production of jet fuel - from 0.7 to one million metric tons after the modernization,” he said. “These indices will meet the needs of the country in the fuel at least until the end of the 2020s."
As a result of commissioning of the new catalytic cracking units, the production capacity of the plant will increase from 6 to 7.5 million metric tons.
"Some 75 percent of the gasoline produced at the plant will be supplied to the local market, while a quarter of it will be exported,” Gahramanov said. “As for diesel and aviation fuel, the domestic market will be provided with 60 percent of the output, while 40 percent will be exported. Finally, 30 percent of the output of SOCAR Polymer project will be supplied to the domestic market, while 70 percent will be exported to Georgia, Turkey and the CIS countries."
Azerbaijan's energy giant SOCAR, which is keen on expanding operations in the retail oil products market abroad is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in the domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.
In 2015, SOCAR optimized the structure of its oil refining facilities and established one large enterprise on the basis of two oil refineries.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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