TDA to Facilitate $1.8 Million Investment in Azerbaijan Refinery Construction and Improvements
Environmental Relief and Heightened Efficiency a Top Priority

For Immediate Release

Washington, DC (23 June 1999) - The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) will award $900,000 in feasibility study assistance to Azerbaijan for two refinery and chemical projects. The grants will be signed today by U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Stanley Escudero at a ceremony in Baku.

TDA Director J. Joseph Grandmaison commented on the agency's latest investments in Azerbaijan, "TDA is pleased to provide this assistance, which serves a dual purpose - helping the Azeris improve their refinery and chemical production processes and placing U.S. companies on the ground floor of infrastructure development in the dynamic Caspian region."

A $500,000 grant to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan will provide for a feasibility study to improve the refinement of jet and diesel fuels and the recovery of their usable byproducts at the Azerneftyag production unit in Baku. At present, the Azerneftyag refinery processes a highly acidic crude oil that requires caustic treatment of the kerosene and diesel streams in order to meet the quality specifications required by its customers. Most of the distillation units and treatment systems being used are dated and in very poor condition. Because one of the byproducts of the caustic stream, sodium naphthenate, is usable once it is converted into naphthenic acid, this study also aims to improve the chemical yield and operating efficiency of the recovery process.

To be conducted by Merichem Chemicals and Refinery Services LLC of Houston, Texas, this feasibility study will evaluate design and cost estimates for improvements to the refinery, analyze the current environmental conditions, and provide a market analysis for the acid products that may be sold once the project is implemented. Merichem will provide $627,000 toward the total cost of the study.

The second grant will provide $400,000 for a feasibility study on the construction of three new facilities at the Azerichimia petrochemical refinery in Sumgait. This region, the jewel of Azerbaijan's chemical and petrochemical industry, is in need of restructuring and expansion to utilize equipment that is inefficient and an underemployed labor force. Once constructed, the three new facilities would produce caustic soda, chlorine, ethylene dichloride, benzene and ethylene.

With a potentially robust chemical and petrochemical market in the Caspian region, this feasibility study provides an excellent opportunity for U.S. companies to become involved as these projects move forward. Eurasia Link, Ltd. of Rochester, New York, has been selected to conduct the study. Eurasia Link will provide $301,410 toward the total cost of the study.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency, an agency of the U.S. Government, helps form mutually beneficial relationships between U.S. private sector companies and overseas project sponsors. Last year, TDA provided assistance in 62 nations around the world.

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