The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) and the Kyrgyz government plan to form a working group for construction of a refinery with an output of 2 million tons of petroleum annually in Kyrgyzstan, APA reports.
Zhumakadyr Akeneyev, President of the Association of Oil Traders of Kyrgyzstan, announced the initiative.
SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev visited Bishkek in mid-January and met Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev. The president ordered Minister for Energy and Industry Askarbek Shadiyev to assist construction of the refinery.
Akeneyev said that there were several variants for realization of the project. Azerbaijan considers construction of a large refinery or several small refineries in the north and south of Kyrgyzstan. The facility is to be launched in 2013.
SOCAR plans to built the refinery to cover Kyrgyz demand for petroleum and export fuel to China.
