Azerbaijan, Baku, May 30/ Trend , E.Ismayilov/
It is not planned to build new facilities at the Baku Azneftyag Refinery of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), director of the plant Akbar Hajiyev said on May 30.
"The facilities at the enterprise periodically undergo repairs. They shall be maintained by the construction of a new refinery in Azerbaijan," Hajiyev said.
This year, there has been some reduction in volumes of oil refining at the Azerbaijani refineries which is connected with restrictions on foreign sale markets.
"Many markets have closed due to the global financial and economic crisis," Hajiyev said.
The SOCAR intends to establish a new petrochemical complex, which will consist of a refinery, gas refinery, petrochemical plants and fertilizer. This project will be implemented outside of Baku, as at present both of SOCAR oil refineries are located in the city.
While establishing new complex, both plants will be dismantled and their equipment will not be used.
The project costs about €22 billion.
Azerbaijani oil products are produced at two SOCAR-owned Baku oil refineries with the total capacity of 20 million tons of oil per year. SOCAR annually processes roughly 7 million tons of oil produced from onshore and offshore fields through its owns funds.
In January to April 2009, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) transferred roughly two million tons of oil for refining compared to 2.5 million tons in the same period of 2008.
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