Page 135 - RusRPTNov23

be insignificant. As regards engine fuel, its production volume has even been increased," the chief executive said.
● Lukoil
Russia’s second-largest crude producer, private oil major Lukoil, will lend Azeri state oil firm SOCAR $1.5bn as part of a broader deal that will allow SOCAR's Turkish STAR refinery with 0.2mn barrels per day (bpd) of capacity to receive Russian oil again, Reuters reported citing unnamed sources. Notably, the deal would allow Lukoil to have a customer in proximity to Russian ports, as Turkey continues to import Russian oil and gas. However, STAR previously cut imports of Urals oil due to financial complications linked to sanctions for Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. The refinery STAR purchased an average of 100,000 bpd of Urals in 2022 but below 50,000 bpd so far this year, Reuters said citing LSEG data. Lukoil is now expected to resume about 100,000 bpd of deliveries to STAR, or about half of its capacity. Three tankers sourced by Lukoil – Azure Celeste, Ocean Faye and Sea Fidelity – are reportedly already heading to Turkey from Russian Primorsk port as the first shipment under the deal.
The output of Russian oil company Lukoil at the West Qurna 2 oilfield in Iraq will reach 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the next few years, Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani told reporters on October 12.
● Other
The Investment Development Agency of Tatarstan reported on October 13 that Tatneft plans to invest 91.2 billion rubles in the construction of a terephthalic acid (TPA) plant at its Taneko refinery. The corresponding project was approved by the Investment Council of Tatarstan.
PET will be produced for domestic and foreign markets, as well as for the needs of JSC Ecopet (owned by Tatneft), the largest producer of PET in Russia. PET is used for the production of PET bottles and cans, food containers and packaging, as well as other products. Terephthalic acid is the raw material for the production of polyethylene terephthalate.
The project implementation is planned for 10 years. The production capacity will be 600 thousand tons of TPA per year. In 2021, the company stated that the launch is planned for 2024-2025. Now the only producer of TPA in Russia is the Bashkir Polyef, with a capacity of about 300 thousand tons per year, which is part of the Sibur holding. The rest of the volume is imported into the Russian market by China. Consumption in Russia is estimated at approximately 800 thousand tons of TPA per year. Thus, Tatneft can replace China's share in the domestic market, which can contribute to the successful implementation of this investment.
135 RUSSIA Country Report November 2023 www.intellinews.com