OREANDA-NEWS. December 30, 2011. JSC "National Company KazMunayGas" (Astana), whose  bonds are officially listed at Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), has provided KASE with the following press-release of December 29, 2011:

JSC NC "KazMunayGas" announces that on December 29, 2011, a ceremony of signing the agreement on construction of an advanced oil processing unit took place in Atyrau. Galymzhan Amanturlin, general manager for oil refinery projects and petrochemistry of JSC NC "KazMunayGas", Talgat Baitaziev, general director of Atyrau Oil Refinery (ANPZ), as well as representatives of the consortium in charge of the project implementation took part in the event.

Construction of the advanced oil processing unit (AOPU) is being implemented under the government program of Kazakhstan's accelerated industrial and innovative development and is the final stage of ANPZ's modernization. This would allow deeper oil refining (up to 85%), production of Euro-5 compliant motor oils and processing of dark oil products. The unit is meant to process 2.4 m tons of raw material (oil fuel, vacuum gasoil) a year.

- This is one of major investment projects of "KazMunayGas" running under Kazakhstan's accelerated industrialization. Its implementation is advancing on schedule. Modernization of the country's oil refineries will mean full coverage of the domestic market with high-quality locally made oil products. As a result, motorists will not suffer from problems with fuel we are experiencing now, - says Galymzhan Amanturlin, general manager for oil refinery projects and petrochemistry of JSC NC "KazMunayGas".

The consortium comprising "Sinopec Engineering", "Marubeni Corporation" and JSC NGSK "KazStroiService" was founded in October 2011. "Sinopec Engineering" (China) is in charge for the general implementation of the project.
"Marubeni Corporation" (Japan) arranges funding from The Japan Bank for International Cooperation, as well as takes part in procurement and logistics. JSC NGSK "KazStroiService" will supervise construction and supply.

- The modernization is taking place without business interruption. That creates some difficulties during the project implementation, but I am sure, in 2016 ANPZ will be the first enterprise to produce Euro-5 petrol, - says Talgat Baitaziev, CEO of ANPZ.

The project is going to cost around USD1.7 bn, and take 41 months.

As a whole, the advanced oil processing unit at ANPZ will increase the environmental friendliness of the plant's output and effectiveness of oil processing.