Production of Euro 5 gasoline to be launched [UPDATE]

By Azernews

By Narmina Mammadova

Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev will be able to start Euro 5 gasoline production presumably from early 2021, Public Relations Head at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, Ibrahim Ahmadov, told Trend.

"The work on modernization of a diesel complex is expected to be completed by late 2020 and the production of Euro 5 gasoline will be possible approximately from the beginning of 2021," he added.

Ahmadov noted that modernization will make it possible to provide the domestic market with Euro 5 fuel.

"Here we first of all mean diesel fuel. The modernization will also allow to produce Euro 5 gasoline with 92-95-98 octane and other products that will be sold depending on the future market demand," he said.

Ahmadov went on to add that given the rapidly growing fuel consumption in Azerbaijan in recent years, the major part of the refinery’s products is expected to be sold on the domestic market.

The products will fully meet the domestic demand and the remaining part will be exported, he added.

Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery was established in July 1953 as New Baku Oil Refinery. The combined atmospheric vacuum plant is the major plant at the refinery and has a capacity of 6Mt of crude oil.

The refinery was installed with major equipment including ED-AV-6 unit (1976), a catalytic reforming unit (1980), a gradual coking unit (1986), and a catalytic cracker (1993).

According to SOCAR Presidential decree dated December 24, 2014, the activity of "Azerneftyag" oil refinery was suspended on January 1, 2015, for joining the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery.

The modernization of the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery, which will be completed in 2021, is currently underway. After modernization, the production capacity of the refinery will be increased from 6 million to 8 million tons per year, and the operational life of the enterprise will increase to 2040.

The cost of upgrading the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery is estimated at about $ 2.2 billion.