Kazakhstan's Atyrau refinery resumes production; maintenance nears completion

ASTANA. Oct 23 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's Atyrau Oil Refinery has resumed operations on the first segment of the equipment, and is aiming to reach full capacity by early November, the press service of KazMunayGas (KMG) said in a statement.

"Daily oil-refining capacity is currently 9,500 tonnes, with production of commercial products already underway at 1,200 tonnes of gasoline and 1,500 tonnes of diesel fuel each day," KMG said.

The Atyrau Refinery is on track to reach full design capacity in the first ten days of November, as originally planned. Most maintenance work on other units is nearly complete, and equipment will be gradually brought back online.

"During the preventative maintenance work, the following tasks have been completed, including equipment cleaning, furnace and reactor lining, equipment and catalyst replacements, modifications to internal column devices, and more have been completed. The audit, inspection, and pressure testing of pressure vessels are ongoing," KMG said.

The refinery is also installing an automated emissions monitoring system to comply with environmental regulations. The system is being set up on furnace chimneys as part of the PMW.

On October 1, the Atyrau Oil Refinery commenced its scheduled maintenance, which was scheduled to continue until the first week of November.

Atyrau Oil Refinery is one of three large-scale oil refineries in Kazakhstan, whose principal owner is KazMunayGas. The design processing capacity is 5.5 million tonnes per year, and the refinery yield is up to 86.4%.