Socar and UOP sign Azerbaijan’s refinery reconstruction agreement

State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (Socar) and process technology licenser UOP have signed an agreement on reconstruction of Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery.

Socar president Rovnag Abdullayev said that the reconstruction and upgrade of the refinery was one of the important downstream projects to be carried out by the company.

According to Socar, UOP became a licenser of refinery units for production of quality oil products.

Earlier, the companies cooperated with regard to construction of the refinery’s catalytic reforming plant.

Formerly known as the New Baku Oil Refinery, the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery in Azerbaijan was established by order of the Ministry of the Oil Industry of the former USSR on 29 July 1953.

The refinery has processed over 300,000,000t of oil, added new facilities, applied new technologies, and produced various petroleum products over the course of more than 50 years.

Heydar is currently processing 21 out of 24 grades of Azerbaijan crude and 15 different petroleum products, which include automotive gasoline, aviation kerosene, diesel fuel, black oil, petroleum coke, and others.

In June, Socar had announced its proposal to invest $1.2bn for reconstruction and upgrade of its two oil refineries named after Heydar Aliyev and Azerkimya PU.

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Image: Socar and UOP officials in the signing ceremony. Photo: courtesy of State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic