SOCAR launches new system at Baku Oil Refinery

By Azernews

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR has put into operation a new water-cooling system at the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev.

The launch ceremony was attended by SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev and the company's management.

The construction of the system, the basic design of which was developed by the French Hamon Thermal Europe, was launched in 2015. The production capacity of the facility is 7,000 cubic meters of water per day. Its commissioning will allow continuous and reliable supply of cold water to technological units, reduce dependence on external sources, improve the quality of products and reduce losses.

The management of the company also got acquainted with the works on reconstruction of the plant for regeneration of saturated amino acids with a capacity of almost 780,000 tons, as well as catalytic reforming units.

At present, the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery, is being modernized and the modernisation will be completed by 2020. The production capacity of the refinery will be increased from 6 million to 7.5 million tons per year as a result.

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 refinery meets Azerbaijan's entire demand for petroleum products and exports 45 percent of the products. The petroleum products processed at the plant include automotive gasoline, aviation kerosene, diesel fuel, black oil, petroleum coke, and others.