Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.16
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The motor fuel for medium and low speed diesel engines, produced at Baku Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery meets the 2020 standards of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR told Trend.
“The GOST 1667-68 motor fuel for medium and low speed diesel engines, produced at Baku Refinery meets 2020 requirements of IMO,” he noted.
IMO will enforce new emissions standards designed to significantly curb pollution produced by the world's ships starting from 2020. In accordance with new standards, IMO is set to ban shipping vessels using fuel with a sulfur content higher than 0.5 percent.
Earlier, Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) told Trend that the company is studying the possibility of switching to new IMO standards.
ASCO said that there are two ways of bringing the ships in line with those standards: replace heavy fuels with light ones or install a special Exhaust Gas Cleaning System (EGCS).
Currently, 14 ASCO ships are sailing in international waters of the Azov, Black and Mediterranean seas. The company intends to choose one of the two above-mentioned solutions. “We are conducting research and will choose one of two options when we have results,” the company said.
Currently, Baku Refinery is undergoing modernization, which will be completed in 2021. Following the modernization, the refinery’s capacity will increase from 6 million tons per year to 8 million tons per year, while its operational term will be extended until 2040.
The cost of modernization of the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery is estimated at around $2.2 billion.
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