Azerbaijan may start shipping petroleum products to Kyrgyzstan - Kyrgyz Energy Minister

BAKU. April 27 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan has declared its readiness to supply petroleum products to Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz Energy Minister Taalaibek Ibraev told Kyrgyz news agency Kabar.

As part of the state visit of President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov to Azerbaijan on April 24-25, 2024, negotiations were held with the management of Baku's Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery (part of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, SOCAR), where the parties discussed the possibility of supplying Azerbaijani oil products to Kyrgyzstan, he said.

"Azerbaijan is one of the largest exporters of petroleum products. Soon the Junda oil refinery will also begin operating in Kyrgyzstan, and it will need more than 1 million tonnes of fuel per year. In this regard, the issue of supplying oil to Kyrgyzstan was discussed with the management of SOCAR. For their part, they are ready to cooperate. We are currently working on the issue of logistics," Ibraev said.

As previously reported, China Petrol Company Junda completed the construction of a refinery in Kyrgyzstan in 2014. The plant is located in the Eastern Industrial Zone of Kara-Balta, the company's website says. The total area of the plant is 350 hectares, including 70 hectares for the production facilities. The production capacity of the oil refining plant is 800,000 tonnes per year, and the fuel oil processing capacity is 200,000 tonnes per year. The plant can produce about 460,000 tonnes of gasoline (Ai-95, Ai-92, AI-80) annually, as well as 380,000 tonnes of diesel fuel and 74,000 tonnes of reduced gas of various types.

The website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan says that major renovations began at the refinery in November last year. The plant is planned to be modernized this fall. The launch of the refinery at its previous capacity is scheduled for Q2 2024.