Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attended a ground breaking ceremony of a new bitumen production facility as part of reconstruction of the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery on September 19.

The foundation ceremony coincided with the eve of grand holiday of oil workers, which has been celebrated in oil-rich Azerbaijan for over the past 20 years. The day marks the beginning of the new oil strategy of the contemporary Azerbaijan with the signing of the Contract of the Century.

The Contract, signed on September 20, 1994, marks the launch of newly independent nation's policy of energy diversification, initiated by late President Heydar Aliyev and symbolizes the success, gained by Azerbaijan in regional and international partnerships.

Speaking at the ceremony President Aliyev said the project of reconstruction of the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery has been launched and the work to be done here will enable to create a world-class plant.

“Life goes on and new technologies must be applied. The refinery must meet the highest international standards. Reconstruction of the plant will take about 2-3 years. After that fuel of the highest quality, including diesel, gasoline and jet fuel, will be produced. The plant will ensure the highest environmental standards, and the working conditions of refiners will be improved,” President Aliyev said.

"Black gold" brought enormous fame to Azerbaijan over the past century, thus acting as a major catalyst to boom national industry. Using the state-of-the-art technologies the country could prosper and ensure steady economic growth able to resist global and regional crisis.

The head of state said the plant, which is currently producing the majority of fuel, is of particular importance for the development of the country.

"This is an enterprise, which has great importance for our development and security. We have large oil reserves. Azerbaijan has the whole chain of the oil industry including production, transportation, processing, sale, export, oil products, and raw materials,” he said, emphasizing that it is very important for improving the ecological situation in Baku.

During the event, President Aliyev laid a foundation stone for the new bitumen production facility.

President of Azerbaijan State Oil Company (SOCAR) Rovnag Abdullayev informed President Aliyev a new bitumen production facility to be built at the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery would have an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons. EN 40/60 brand road bitumen will be produced here and the facility is expected to be commissioned in mid-2018.

The construction of the new bitumen facility will be the first stage of the reconstruction work to be carried out at the refinery. The Austrian engineering company Pörner and the Heydar Aliyev Refinery signed an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management contract for the construction of the plant. By the construction of a new bitumen production facility, the current infrastructure of former Azerneftyag oil refinery will be fully decommissioned and the coastal areas will be emptied and handed over for the realization of White City project. Furthermore running costs of Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery will be optimized and the country will be provided with high-quality bitumen.

The company plans to produce high-quality oil products as part of the next stage of the reconstruction work to be carried out at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery. Under the program, the oil refinery will produce Euro-5 standard diesel in 2019 and the Euro 5 standard petrol in 2020. By realization of the project the processing capacity of the refinery will be increased to 7.5 million tons. This will help to fully meet the country's domestic consumption of car fuel for the next 15-20 years and increase the export potential of high-quality oil products. The implementation of the project will contribute to the improvement of the environmental situation in Baku and to the country's socio-economic development.

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