Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Kazakhstan's Shymkent oil refinery, one of three oil refineries operating in the country, has started producing diesel fuel that meets environmental class standards of K4 and K5 (an analogue of the European standards of Euro-4 and Euro-5, applied in the by the Customs Union countries).

This was announced by Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGas Processing and Marketing Joint Stock Company on September 22.

The production of diesel fuel of such a quality became possible after Kazakhstan renovated and commissioned a facility for hydro-treating diesel fuel.

This is the first facility built under a large project to renovate and modernize the Shymkent refinery.

Experience and innovation gathered from the world's leading companies, including Axens (France) and Sud Chemie (Germany), were used in the process of renovating the refinery.

These measures have greatly improved the quality and environmental features of diesel fuel, significantly reducing its sulfur content and freezing temperature.

The production of diesel fuel with improved environmental characteristics is a real step towards reducing emissions from automobile and railway transportation and bringing an ecological component of motor fuel produced in Kazakhstan in line with international standards.

Besides Shymkent, Kazakhstan's main oil refineries are Atyrau and Pavlodar.

These refineries are responsible for only 60 percent of the country's fuel consumption. The other 40 percent comes from abroad, mainly from Russia.

Experts say that the energy-rich country needs to modernize its technology in order to fully meet the country's fuel needs. The construction of new oil refineries and the renovation of existing ones will help alleviate fuels and lubricants shortage in the country.

Only after domestic refineries are modernized will it become possible for Kazakhstan to fully cover its domestic fuel needs.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova