Today.Az » Business » SOCAR and Central Asian markets
27 January 2012 [13:44] - Today.Az
Besides supplying to Afghanistan and Georgia, SOCAR may enter the market of oil products in Central Asia. Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev and SOCAR president Rovnag Abdullaev met last week. They agreed to start construction of a refinery in Kyrgyzstan with a capacity of 2 million tons per year. The expected period of putting a refinery in operation is late 2013. The estimated cost is $ 150 million. According to the agreement, a group of SOCAR specialists will be sent to Kyrgyzstan in February to explore the construction of a refinery and to start the company's activity in the fuel-energy sector of the country. Why Kyrgyzstan?
Production of oil products in Kyrgyzstan (thousand tons):
|
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
|
Petrol
|
9,8
|
13,6
|
12,8
|
9,9
|
14,7
|
13,5
|
|
Diesel fuel
|
31,3
|
51,6
|
59,9
|
48
|
39,6
|
27,4
|
|
Black oil
|
42,1
|
55,5
|
58,9
|
39
|
43,2
|
41,9 |
Source: the Kyrgyz national statistics committee
Import of oil products in Kyrgyzstan (thousand tons):
|
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010
|
|
Petrol
|
324,2
|
434,9
|
509,1
|
523,3
|
423,8
|
|
Kerosene
|
396,2
|
408,7
|
505,1
|
630,3
|
320,9
|
|
Diesel fuel
|
136,2
|
289,1
|
194,2
|
219,9
|
247,9
|
|
Black oil
|
1,7
|
43,7
|
41,7
|
128,3
|
128,5 |
Source: the Kyrgyz national statistics committee
Comparing the ratio "production-import", we find out that the share
of imports of oil products was 89 percent in 2010 without taking into
account the import of kerosene. Then Kyrgyzstan's interest almost
entirely dependent on imports, from one country - Russia (more than 90
percent of total imports) and SOCAR's position, which can begin
developing a new, unsaturated and dependent oil market become clear.
The growing shortage of oil products and increasing prices, the
problems with railway transportation from neighboring countries,
periodic bans on exports from Russia and Kazakhstan, due to various
circumstances, the introduction of export duties for oil suppliers to
Kyrgyzstan from time to time are objective and subjective factors
threatening energy security one way or another.
The minimum demand for oil products in Kyrgyzstan is 1.5 million tons
per year with own production of 80,000-90,000 tons. The government
intends to increase oil production and refining capacity. Speaking at
the press-conference in Bishkek on the eve of New Year, President
Atambayev briefly expressed this thought: "Kyrgyzstan must extract its
oil and gas. If we have our own oil, why can not we provide ourselves
with a diesel fuel?"
According to Kyrgyz experts' forecast, the oil reserves in the country range from 300 to 500 million tons.
The construction of a new refinery may be one of the measures for
strengthening Kyrgyzstan's energy security. SOCAR has another
opportunity for making profitable investments and increasing its foreign
assets.
Azer Ahmadbayli /Trend/
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