Kazakhstan to invest over $6 bln in modernisation of oil refineries before 2016

The Kazakhstani National Petroleum Company KazMunaiGas plans to invest more than six billion U.S. dollars in the modernisation of the republic’s three oil refineries, which will make it possible to increase oil processing to 19.5 million tonnes a year from the current level of 12 million tonnes, Company CEO Lyazzat Kiinov said at the Seventh Eurasian KazEnergy Forum, which opened here on Tuesday.

“The total value of investment in the fulfillment of the projects for the upgrading of the refineries is expected to exceed six billion U.S. dollars in the period from 2013 to 2015,” he said.

In his estimate, the implementation of the projects will allow the republic to raise the amounts of oil refinery, as well as to achieve the processing depth of 80-90 percent and raise the gasoline quality to the Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards, Itar-Tass reports.

Kazakhstan has got three oil refineries – the Atyrau plant (in the west of the country), the Pavlodar plant (in the north) and the Shymkent facility (in the south).

The Kazakhstani government through the National Petroleum Company KazMunaiGas holds the control stakes of the above-mentioned oil refineries.