16
Тамыз 2008
МҰНАЙШЫ
i
n recent years Shymkent Oil Refinery has
begun increasing capacity. In 2005 the
refinery produced 3,933 mln tons, in 2006 –
4,035 mln and in 2007 – 4,060 mln tons. The
refinery still has some issues. Shymkent plant
being the “youngest” in Kazakhstan, has a
limited circle of operations and is actually
second to the Pavlodar Refinery in production
volume terms. The reason is that the refinery
has no slow coking or catalytic cracking units –
two secondary processes used in the extraction
of a large percentage of light oil products. The
refinery actually owns the required equipment
but it is not in operation.
However, time does not stand still
and the government has approved new
technical fuel quality regulations. From
January 2009 Kazakhstan is planning to
introduce Euro-2 standard fuel, Euro-3
fuel from January 2011, and Euro-4 fuel
from January 2014. The result should
be a significant reduction in the quantity
of harmful emissions. However, for this
to happen, all oil refineries need to be
modernised to meet new ecological
requirements for increased percentages of
lighter products from refined oil.
Modernization has been an issue at
the Shymkent Oil Refinery for a long
while. First of all the “frozen” facilities
need to be put into operation, which
involves completing construction of a
catalytic cracking unit that would ensure
the hydroskimming of vacuum gas oil,
a gas fractionation plant, a MTB unit
fuel hydroskimming, isomerisation and
polypropelene installations, and finally a
benzol production unit. If all of the above
equipment is put into operation then the
extraction levels for light products should
grow from the current 62% to average
European levels of 87%.
After purchasing the CNPC plant, a
commission of refinery representatives and
an independent foreign company carried
out a review of the available equipment
and concluded that it was in good enough
condition and may be installed. The only
problem that remained was financing.
On 16 June 2008 PKOP LLP management
held a meeting in Almaty with shareholder
representatives to discuss the plan to
modernise the Shymkent Oil Refinery.
The meeting covered operating results
and identified technical and financial
committee plans.
Plant management has been given the
task of finding ways of increasing refining
capacity. If the initial modernization plan
was to increase the depth of crude oil
refining and increase the yield of light
oil products at Euro-3 standard, then
KazMunaiGas representatives expressed
an opinion, which took into account
Kazakhstan’s growing economy, on
the need to increase actual oil refining
volumes.
Mr Tiyesov, deputy general director of
Trade House KMG, mentioned that the
current modernization project (developed
by the Beijing scientific research institute
for oil refining in 2006) is at its most
effective for oil refinery capacity of 4 mln
tons per year. However, according to
the oil refining programme developed,
the Kazakhstan government (Ministry
of Energy and Mineral Resources) is
demanding that refining capacity at the
Shymkent Oil Refinery achieve Euro-3 and
Euro-4 standard immediately.
For this reason, the meeting delegates
decided to analyse three refinery
modernization plan options: (1) keeping
refining volumes of 4 mln tons per year;
(2) increasing volumes to 5.25 mln tons per
year (this is the plant’s current maximum
capacity); (3) achieving a level of 6 mln
tons per year.
All three options need to be agreed
with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral
Resources which involves discussing any
related issues such as what type of oil
is to be sent to the oil refinery, and can
the government support and guarantee
an increase in refining tariffs in light of
significant investment in plant assets. A
feasibility study will be carried out only
after this has been agreed.
PKOP management and shareholder
representatives are unanimous in their
understanding of the need to modernise
the oil refinery. The Shymkent Oil Refinery
supplies the most densely populated region
of the country with oil products. One of
the meeting delegates expressed a desire to
see the work with the Ministry of Energy
and Mineral Resources and feasibility study
completed as quickly as possible.
During a visit to Shymkent in April 2007
the Kazakhstan president also expressed
his support for the project, which has
already been included in the Programme
for the development of the petrochemical
industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan for
2008–2013.
It’s still difficult to estimate the cost of
modernising the plant as a lot depends on
the engineering parameters of the option
chosen. The Chinese institute estimated
the cost in 2006 to be $500 mln. However,
according to several unofficial assessments,
this amount could grow significantly due
to rises in the cost of materials and the
complexity of the modernization plan.
In addition, the Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources has still not guaranteed
the required oil supply volumes for
refining.
The meeting delegates decided to
discuss the financing issue after the
main technical parameters of the project
had been determined. It has not yet
been decided whether funds will be
borrowed or shareholder funds will
be used. This is where the government
could support the project, for example in
the form of tax and customs concessions
for the reconstruction of the refinery.
Governmental assistance in the project
will probably take the form of project
economics.
●
nursultan nazabayev, President of Kazakhstan, during his visit to Shymkent in april 2007, met with
the senior management of PKOP llP: mr. Bo Qiliang, President, and mr. arlan Shabdarbayev, First
VicePresident. the latter is in charge of the overall refinery modernization. after that remarkable
meeting the project was firmly put on the modernization trail. it was included in the rK Petrochemical
industry development Program for 20082013.
наурыз достарды жинайды
on the modernization trail!