SEG to modernise the Fergana oil refinery

The project, expected to cost over US$400 million, is intended to fully modernise the 63-year-old facility. Once completed, the refinery will be the only plant in Uzbekistan able to produce Euro 5 gasoline and Group II+/III lubricants, as defined by the American Petroleum Institute (API).

SEG took over trust management of the refinery in February 2020, and acquired the state’s stake in the facility in June 2022. The current upgrade will be the largest and most comprehensive in the history of the enterprise. Between 1997 – 2000, a spot reconstruction of the fuel unit occurred, but a complete renovation has not been carried out in over 60 years.

Tulkin Yusupov, Executive Director of SEG, said: “Our company faces a large-scale task - to provide the people of Uzbekistan with high-quality fuel and lubricants from its own oil, including modern gasoline grades, not currently produced in Uzbekistan, and other types of products. Therefore, in our production sector we are introducing advanced technologies to intensify production. The modernisation of the refinery is inextricably linked to this task.

“Today we have begun the largest technical re-equipment programme in the plant’s history. Several installations that have stood for years will be demolished. In their place, the production chain of the enterprise will be integrated into the production chain of SEG. New installations will produce products in demand on the market. This project will have a significant impact on the development of Uzbekistan, and some types of products will also compete in foreign markets.”

Project completion is expected in late 2023. Originally built in 1959, the enterprise was sourced with raw materials from Western Siberia fields and was part of the all-Soviet system of processing raw materials. Production prior to the transfer to SEG’s management averaged just 1 million tpy.

To date, with the involvement of the EPC contractor, Enter Engineering, excavation has already been completed and construction is underway on several new installations, including a steam boiler house with a chemical water treatment plant, a hydrocracking unit, as well as new buildings for the central control room and laboratory, and various storage tanks. As part of the project launch, SEG has attracted over US$160 million in investment. Licensing and engineering agreements have been concluded with Axens (France) and Wood (UK and Italy).

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/28092022/seg-to-modernise-the-fergana-oil-refinery/