ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 25. The Caspi Bitum plant in Aktau, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas, has produced its first batch of road bitumen following a major modernization effort, Trend reports.
The facility received a quality certificate for an initial 740-ton shipment, confirming the readiness of the upgraded production line.
The modernization project, implemented under the directive of the President of Kazakhstan, focused on enhancing the plant’s primary oil refining unit, ELOU-AVT. As part of the upgrade, new technological equipment was installed to increase the facility’s processing capacity to 1.5 million tons of crude oil per year.
A key milestone in the project was the installation of the T-1102 vacuum column in March — a 40-meter-high, 140-ton unit designed to improve fuel oil processing and enable the production of high-quality vacuum residue, a critical raw material for road bitumen. The upgrade also included the addition of a new water-ring vacuum system, modernization of the atmospheric distillation unit, process furnaces, heat exchangers, pumping equipment, and automation systems.
Construction and installation, led by general contractor CITIC Construction, began in November 2024. The project was completed one month ahead of schedule, with over 220 workers engaged in round-the-clock operations. Total capital investment amounted to $76 million.
The official launch of the modernized Caspi Bitum plant and the achievement of full production capacity are scheduled for early May 2025. Once operational, the facility is expected to increase Kazakhstan’s annual bitumen production from 500,000 to 750,000 tons, supporting ongoing road construction projects across the country.
