Kazakhstan Refineries

2000 - The three oil refineries in Kazakhstan, currently do not operate at full capacity, mainly due to a lack of demand for their products. The refineries produce fuel oil, diesel fuel, motor gasoline, jet fuel and liquefied gas. Their output is characterized by a low level of refining depth, which does not exceed 55%. As a result, an average workload of these refineries is maximum 65% with an aggregate designed output of 18.5 million tons. In general, production of the three refineries is closely approximated to that of other refineries within FSU countries.

KAZAKHSTAN - The Atyrau Refinery.

APS Review Downstream Trends • July 28, 2008 •

On Dec. 29, 2004, KMG EP got a controlling 50% equity in the 104,427 b/d Atyrau refinery and its petrochemicals producing units, including its polypropylene plant and the Aktau plastics plant. The company then said: "These enterprises are considered as a platform for creation of petrochemical technology parks".

The company then said KMG EP, together with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and KMG Holding, were taking part in the development of "a special economic zone" (SEZ) and a "National industrial petrochemical technology park in Atyrau Oblast". On Dec. 29, 2004 shares of KMG EP were included in a listing of "A" at the Kazakhstan stock exchange.

In 2004 the refinery processed 2.91m tons of crude oil, which exceeded its 2003 throughput by 25.5%. Built in 1945 by the Soviet system, the refinery has been modernised and upgraded by Marubeni and JGC Corp of Japan under a turnkey contract signed in 2001 and activated in 2003.

The Atyrau refinery runs solely on domestic crude oil from north-western Kazakhstan. The plant produces motor gasoline, diesel, vacuum gasoil, jet fuel, different sorts of petroleum coke, LPG and fuel oil. Nearly all products are consumed by the domestic market.

The Background: Atyrau province in the west is where oil has been produced since 1911 - with Atyrau town split in two by the Ural River which divides Asia and Europe. Near the end of World War-II, the Soviets built the Atyrau refinery on the bank of the river, close to the Caspian Sea. The plant has seldom operated at its nameplate capacity of 104,427 b/d.

Oil products from the plant are often sold below cost to local farmers during the sowing seasons, as the agricultural sector needs cheap fuel. Surplus output at the refinery is exported through the river and the Caspian.

A majority share in the plant was sold in early 1997 to a virtually unknown firm, Essex Refinery, but by April 1997 the sale was revoked by the government. Later a Swiss firm called Telf Co. acquired a 45% stake, with another 41% held by KazakhOil and the rest by the refinery's staff. In 1999 KazakhOil bought Telf out and raised its stake to 86%.

The refinery is near Kazakhstan's richest oilfields, including Tengiz, Zhanazol, Karachaganak, Uzen, Martyshi and Zhetybay. Some of the local crude oils are very heavy and require special processing capabilities, the reason for the plant's upgrade.

For years before the upgrade, the main product had been low quality gasoil. Now the plant is producing higher quality fuels, including low-sulphur diesel/gasoil. The refinery produces motor and industrial fuels, such as gasoline, paraffin and coke. Also produced at the plant are consumer items such as shampoo and cleaning products. Like the other refineries, this plant is operating below capacity.

The Atyrau and Pavlodar refineries have been designed to process Russian crude oils supplied by pipeline from Western Siberia. But now local crudes are being used, with the government having ended the dependence on Russian supplies.

TengizChevrOil (TCO), the Chevron-operated JV developing the Tengiz field announced in early 2004 that it had started construction of a new gas refinery as part of its "second generation" project which was due to go on line in 2006.

The government initially tried transporting some crude oil by rail to the refineries at Shimkent and Pavlodar. But this proved to be too expensive. It then built a 1,200-km crude oil pipeline from the western oilfields to the refineries at a cost of $1 bn. Work began in 1996 but was only completed in 2005, because the project was executed without foreign help.

Russia:
* Omsk refinery (Sibneft), Omsk -- 566,000
* Angarsk refinery (Sidanko), Irkutsk -- 441,000
* Norsi refinery (Norsi-Oil), Nizhny Novgorod -- 438,000
* Grozny refinery (Chechen government), Chechnya -- 390,000
* Kirishi refinery (Surgutneftegaz), Leningrad -- 388,000
* Novo-Ufa (Bashneftekhim), Bashkortostan -- 380,000
* Ryazan refinery (Tyumen Oil), Ryazan -- 361,000
* Yaroslavl refinery (Slavneft), Yaroslavl -- 359,000
* Novo-Kuibyshev refinery (Yukos), Samara -- 309,000
* Permnefteorgsintez (LUKoil), Perm -- 279,000
* Ufaneftekhim (Bashneftekhim), Bashkortostan -- 251,000
* Salavatnefteorgsintez (SIBUR -- Gazprom / Bashneft), Bashkortostan -- 247,000
* Moscow refinery (Central Fuel Company), Moscow -- 243,000
* Ufa refinery (Bashneftekhim), Bashkortostan -- 235,000
* Syzran refinery (Yukos), Samara -- 200,000
* Volgograd refinery (LUKoil), Volgograd -- 189,000
* Kreking Saratov (Sidanko), Saratov -- 177,000
* Orsk refinery (Onako), Orenburg -- 159,000
* Samara-Kuibishev refinery (Yukos), Samara -- 154,000
* Achinsk refinery (VNK/Yukos), Krasnoyarsk -- 147,000
* Ukhta refinery (Komitek-Lukoil), Komi -- 127,000
* Nizhnekamskneftekhim (Tatneft), Tatarstan -- 120,000
* Komsomolsk refinery (Rosneft), Tomsk -- 116,000
* Khabarovsk refinery (Sidanko), Khabarovsk -- 114,000
* Surgut refinery (Gazprom), Samara -- 88,000
* Astrakhan refinery (Gazprom), Astrakhan -- 66,000
* Tuapse refinery (Rosneft), Krasnodar -- 46,000
* Sheripov refinery (Chechen government), Chechnya -- 40,000
* Krasnodarekoneft (Gazprom), Krasnodar -- 34,000
* Afipsky refinery (Rosneft), Krasnodar -- 28,000
* Kogalym refinery (LUKoil), Tyumen -- 10,000
Ukraine:
* Kremenchug refinery (joint venture with Russia's Tatneft), Poltava -- 361,000
* Linos refinery (Ukrainian state), Luhansk -- 320,000
* Kherson refinery (Ukrainian state, hold in trust by Kazakhstan), Kherson -- 173,000
* Odesa refinery (Luksyntezoil, majority owned by Russia's LUKoil), Odessa -- 78,000
* Halychyna/Drahobych (joint-stock company, no majority owner), Lviv -- 78,000
* Prikarpattya/Nadvirna (Ukrainian state), Ivano-Frankivsk -- 74,000
Belarus:
* Mozyr refinery (Slavneft), Gomel -- 323,000
* Novopolotsk refinery/Naftan (Belarusian state), Vitebsk -- 151,000
Azerbaijan:
* Baku refinery (Azerbaijani state), Baku -- 239,000
* Novo-Baku refinery (Azerbaijani state), Baku -- 203,000
Kazakhstan:
* Pavlodar refinery (CCL Oil, US/Mangistaumunaigaz -- subject to judicial review), Pavlodar -- 163,000
* Chimkent refinery/ShNOS (joint stock company, main shareholder Kazkommertzbank), Chimkent -- 160,000
* Atyrau refinery (Kazakhoil), Atyrau -- 104,000
Lithuania:
* Mazeikiu Nafta oil refinery (Lithuanian state/Williams International, US), Baltic Sea Coast -- 300,000
Turkmenistan:
* Seidi refinery (Turkmen state), Chardzhou -- 120,000
* Turkmenbashi refinery (Turkmen state), Balkanskaya (Caspian coast) -- 116,000
Uzbekistan:
* Ferghana refinery (Uzneftepererabotka -- Uzbekneftegaz), Ferghana valley -- 106,000
* Alty-Arik refinery (Uzneftepererabotka -- Uzbekneftegaz), Ferghana valley -- 66,000
* Bukhara refinery (Uzneftepererabotka -- Uzbekneftegaz), Bukhara -- 50,000
Georgia:
* Batumi refinery (LLC Terminal -- subject to judicial review), Ajaria region -- 106,000
Kyrgyzstan:
* Jalalabad refinery (Kyrgoil), Dzhalalabad -- 10,000

This series aims at providing portraits of all FSU refineries. It will continue with a portrait of Sibneft's Omsk refinery in Russia.

Sources: Oil & Gas Journal 21 Dec. 1998 and 11 Oct. 1999; Nefte Compass, 4 Nov. 1999; Financial Times Energy Country Reports, forthcoming; Atlas Mira -- AST, Moscow 1997.

Source: NewsBase

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Azerbaijan

With domestic production topping out at 311,200 bbl/d in 2001 (and half of that exported as crude oil), Azerbaijan's refineries have been running well below capacity, with overall refinery utilization rates as low as 40%. Heating oil accounts for approximately 50% of output at Azeri refineries, followed by diesel fuel (28%), gasoline (10%), motor oil (7%), kerosene (3%), and other products (2%).

Azerbaijan also produces liquefied petroleum gasses (LPGs) at the Heydar Aliev refinery. In 2006 the plant produced 1.5 million barrels, a decrease of 17% from the previous year. At a cost of $120-140 million, Azerbaijan plans to build two high-quality gasoline production units at the Baku Heidar Aliyev refinery (formerly known as Azerneftyanajag refinery) between 2006 and 2008, boosting production by almost 50 percent. Azerbaijan’s automobile gasoline output rose 15% on the year to 8.9 million barrels in 2006.

Azerbaijan produced 1.3 million tons of petrol in 2008 compared to 1.1 million tons in 2007. Nearly 229,000 tons of petrol was realized in 2008.
The SOCAR Marketing and Economic Operations Department exported about 385,000 tons of petrol in 2008.
Azerbaijan's oil refineries produced over 7.3 million tons of oil products in 2008.
Azerbaijan produces oil products at two oil refineries - Baku Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery and Azneftyag Refinery with capacity of 20 million tons a year. Both oil refineries are owned by the SOCAR which refines over 6 million tons of oil a year extracted in onshore and offshore fields via own funds.

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Turkmenistan

The first major new facility of the Turkmenbashi refinery renovation project, the hydro-refining and catalytic reforming installation, was put into operation in February of 2000. The facility is capable of turning out up to 600,000 metric tpy of motor fuel (AI-96 and AI-98 gasoline).

13-06-00 There are two refineries in Turkmenistan. One is located in Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnovodsk), the port on the Caspian Sea coast. The other one, known as the Seidi refinery, is located in Chardjou, near the border with Uzbekistan. The refineries, which belong to the Turkmenistani state, have a capacity of about 120,000 bpd each

By the way, in the first half of 2006 the Seydi oil refinery produced 446 thousand tons of oil products. At the same time, the bulk of straight-run gasoline, diesel fuel and mazut is exported.

Turkmenbashi - Located on the Caspian coast in western Turkmenistan, this refinery has a capacity of 116,500 b/d. It has been modernised and upgraded under a $1.5-2 bn programme consisting of several projects.

The Seidi Refinery: This very old refinery, in the north-east of the country, has had a nominal capacity of 120,500 b/d.

The oil refining industry in Turkmenistan is being modernised. Under a set of projects now costing over $4 bn and launched several years ago, the country's two refineries are being upgraded. Since mid-2002, Ashgabat has been considering a new 100,000 b/d refinery to be built under another project.

Turkmenistan has two major state-owned oil refineries, the Seidi (Chardhzou) and Turkmenbashi, with a combined total capacity of 237,000 b/d, and a smaller plant which is private. The Turkmenbashi refinery was upgraded in 2002. In 2004, the Turkmen government announced plans to upgrade the Seidi refinery which processes only high-sulphur crude oil. In March 2007, Dubai-controlled Dragon Oil commissioned the first foreign-owned refinery with a capacity of 50,000 b/d in Hazar. This is processing Dragon's light/sweet crude oil output.

The Hazar refinery, known officially as the New Processing Facility (NPF), is owned by Dragon Oil which is the biggest foreign producer of crude oil in Turkmenistan (see omt13TurkmProdSep22-08).

According to the most recent data supplied by IEA, during 2005 about 60% of the gasoline, 37% of the diesel fuel, and 55% of the fuel oil produced by these refineries were used by the domestic market while the rest end up by being exported.

Table 1.3-1 2005 Turkmenistan Supply and Demand for Petroleum Products:

(1,000t)

Production / Domestic Demand / Import / Export
Crude
NGL / 9,100 (183Kb/d)
694 (16Kb/d) / 6,590 (132Kb/d)
694 (16Kb/d) / -
- / 2,510 (50Kb/d)
-
Crude & NGL
LPG
Naphtha
Gasoline
Jet/Kero
Gas/Diesel
Fuel oil / 9,794 (200Kb/d)
-
-
1,313
307
2,606
1,811 / 7,284(148kb/d)
80
-
758
307
962
997 / -
80
-
-
-
-
- / 2,510 (50Kb/d)
-
-
555
-
1,644
814
Product Total / 6,037 (122Kb/d) / 3,104 / 80 / 3,013 (61Kb/d)