Azernews.Az

By Gulgiz Dadashova

The Oil and Gas Processing Complex (OGPC) is one of the most important and strategic projects of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR.

SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev made the remark while visiting the 2nd SOCAR Oil and Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex Forum in Baku on November 5.

He said the decision to build the new complex was adopted given the need to ensure the country's growing demand on one hand and law capacity of the old refineries on the other hand.

Noting that the ground is already appropriate for implementing the project, Abdullayev said right now the project is at the stage of design, procurement and construction.

The OGPC will be established at a place 60 kilometers from Baku. It will consist of three processing enterprises and a thermal power plant (TPP).

The total cost of the first phase of the project is estimated at $7 billion (given a loan interest - $8.45 billion). The payback period will be 4-5 years. Around 30 percent of the project will be financed by the state funds (the amount will be partially allocated in five years), while the rest 70 percent would be financed by borrowed funds.

The OGPC construction project will improve the products' quality, enhance the export capacity of the country and help protect the environment of the capital.

Addressing the event, OGPC Director Tofig Qahramanov said a new refinery would be built as part of the second phase of the OGPC project which is expected to be commissioned in 2030.

Qahramanov said that taking into account the need to ensure the country's needs for petroleum products and financing the global oil and gas projects, a decision was made to amend the work schedule for the refinery construction.

"A decision was made to reconstruct the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery as part of ensuring Azerbaijan's fuel needs. It was decided that it will continue working for 15 more years. In particular, it is planned to reconstruct the refinery and construct 7-8 new units."

Qahramanov said that a gas processing plant and an enterprise for the production of petrochemical products are expected to be constructed as part of the OGPC first phase and would be implemented by 2020.

The capacity of the gas processing plant will be 12 billion cubic meters per year, while the amount of chemical production would stand at 860,000 metric tons of polymer products per year.

"After conducting research, a decision was made to use gas as the main raw material at the petrochemical enterprise, instead of naphtha," he said.

Managing Director chez Societe Generale Laura Monroe-Singer, in turn, said the OGPC project realization would greatly satisfy domestic needs and give an opportunity for further development of the sphere, as well as investment attraction.

She stressed that the project ensured a strong support from the Azerbaijani authorities.

Global Head of Sustainability Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers Malcolm Preston also hailed the project, noting that it will positively affect Azerbaijan as from an economic point of view, and social as well.

Preston noted that his company is exploring various options of the project, in particular its impact on the economy and the environment, and one of its positive aspects is reduction of emissions of pollutants.

The forum will provide a unique opportunity for the leading global and local companies to share their expertise, technologies, innovative solutions and other resources in the field of oil refining and gas processing. This could press ahead further the OGPC project.

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