Azernews.Az

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR has signed an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) with Italy’s Maire Tecnimont for the construction of new facilities as part of the reconstruction and modernization of Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery.

SOCAR proceeds with the revamp of the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery with the objective of advancing the quality of fuel and lubricants in Azerbaijan and increasing the volume of production, said the message.

“The tender for the construction of new units was announced on February 10, 2017. Five international companies participated in the selection process. The subsidiaries of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. - Tecnimont S.p.A. and KT-Kinetics Technology S.p.A. were selected with the highest score for the construction of new facilities. The deal includes the construction of more than 10 new production units. The tender for the reconstruction of existing units has been granted to Técnicas Reunidas, which won the qualifying proceedings last December,” said the company.

The contract was signed by Elman Ismayilov, CEO of Heydar Aliyev Refinery and Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO Maire Tecnimont.

SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said that SOCAR was one step closer to producing high-quality diesel, gasoline and other types of fuel meeting the requirements of the Euro-5 standard, adding that Maire Tecnimont S.p.A is one of the world’s leading companies.

Pierroberto Folgiero, in turn, noted that the signing of a new contract after two strategic petrochemical projects implemented by the company in Azerbaijan will allow the Maire Tecnimont group to establish fruitful relations with SOCAR.

He also stressed that Maire Tecnimont intends to continue joint training of local personnel in cooperation with the Baku Higher Oil School and expand these activities after signing a new contract.

Italian media reports that the contact’s cost is estimated at $800 million.

SOCAR announced the liquidation of the Azneftyag refinery and its merger with the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev, in 2015. This decision was made in the framework of works to improve and optimize the structure of SOCAR.

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.

The cost of modernization of the refinery is estimated at about $1.5-1.7 billion.

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 modernization of the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery will be completed by 2021. The production capacity of the refinery will be increased from 6 million to 7.5 million tons per year as a result.

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