Turkmenistan adding new units at Turkmenbashi, Seydi refineries
Turkmenistan is proceeding with construction of new units at its Turkmenbashi Complex of Oil Refineries (TCOR), which includes the Turkmenbashi and Seydi refineries.
Westport Trading Europe Ltd (WTL) is currently accelerating engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) activities on a €120-million project to add a 900,000-tonnes/year (tpy) delayed coking unit (DCU) and 500,000-tpy solvent deasphalting unit (SDA) at the Turkmenbashi refinery, Turkmen state media said on the 2nd August.
The new DCU and SDA units – for which Bashgiproneftechim LLC served as design engineer and on which construction began in late 2019 – are scheduled to be completed in 2022, EPC contractor WTL said.
TCOR also engaged WTL to execute a scoping and technology design study for integration of a needle coke production unit (NCPU) into the Turkmenbashi refinery’s new DCU, according to the service provider.
While WTL confirmed it completed preparation of development documentation on technology for the proposed NCPU integration, details regarding the status of TCOR’s plan to move ahead with the project have yet to be revealed by either WTL or the operator.
Separately, the government of Turkmenistan said TCOR also has let a turnkey contract to WTL to deliver EPC on a new one-million tpy atmospheric crude distillation unit (DCU) and accompanying new crude vacuum electric desalination unit (Unit 6) to be added at its Seydi refinery.
Confirmation of the proposed new DCU unit at Seydi – for which Bashgiproneftechim also provided design and engineering services – follows WTL’s completion in 2019 of a prefeasibility study for the project, according to WTL.
Details regarding the proposed scope and timeline of the Seydi project – which initially was to involve reconstruction of existing equipment at the refinery – have yet to be disclosed.
On the 13th July, the government of Turkmenistan said during first-half 2020 TCOR processed a combined 2.946 million tonnes of crude oil, exceeding the operator’s planned processing and production targets for the period as a result of previously completed projects designed to deepen processing capabilities at the two refineries.
Source: Oil & Gas Journal