MOZYR, 31 March (BelTA) – Construction and installation operations at the heavy oil complex being built by Mozyr Oil Refinery should be finished within the specified timeframe – three months. Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko made the statement as he visited the enterprise, BelTA has learned.
The construction of the heavy oil hydrocracking complex is Mozyr Oil Refinery's largest investment project on record. Its cost is estimated to exceed $1.45 billion. In essence building the complex is like building another enterprise that occupies over 35ha. The heavy oil hydrocracking complex comprises an integrated hydrocracking unit, a hydrogen plant, a sulfur plant, and 21 off-plant facilities. The project's implementation will allow increasing the crude oil upgrading index up to 90%.
Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko and State Secretary of the Security Council Aleksandr Volfovich were made familiar with progress in implementing the investment project as they visited Mozyr Oil Refinery on 31 March. They went to the construction site and took a look at the heavy oil hydrocracking complex together with Gomel Oblast Governor Gennady Solovei and Mozyr Oil Refinery Director General Vitaly Pavlov.
The complex is being built using an unconventional design as well as extremely tight safety requirements at every stage of the project's implementation.
Mozyr Oil Refinery representatives specified that 87-100% of the required construction and installation operations had been completed at primary facilities of the complex. All the work has been done at the offsite facilities.
The hydrogen plant has completed the initial run and a comprehensive test. It made hydrogen on 30 January.
As much as 99.5% of the required construction and installation operations have been done at the sulfur plant. Startup and commissioning operations are in progress. Hydraulic tests have been finished at 178 process loops (100%) and 93 out of the 103 tanks and vessels (90%). Hydraulic tests of the remaining equipment will be performed when the air temperature is above zero. The plant is supposed to be commissioned together with the hydrocracking unit.
As much as 89% of the required construction and installation operations have been done at the integrated hydrocracking unit. An impressive amount of work has been done. Since construction began, 272,900 joints have been welded (100%), 567 units of equipment have been installed (99.3%), 315,600 meters of electric installation work has been done (100%), 1,419km of cables for instruments and controls have been laid (95.5%), 123,132 meters of pipe tracing circuits have been placed (96.9%), 3,896m3 (32%) of heat insulation materials has been placed, and 22,000m2 (13.7%) of electric heating has been installed.
Construction and installation work is in progress to address remarks concerning process pipelines. Pneumatic and hydraulic tests of pipelines and equipment are in progress. Electric installation and insulation operations are being carried out. Instruments and controls are being installed.
Mozyr Oil Refinery's financial and economic performance and the completion of the oil refinery's modernization were also discussed during the prime minister's visit to the enterprise.
The prime minister stressed that it is a unique enterprise. “It is larger and more technologically advanced. It is one of the top three oil processing enterprises in the post-soviet space. Since 2005 it has implemented an entire series of modernization projects. We are actually talking about the gradual construction of new plants. This series is now ending with the commissioning of the most important facility – the hydrocracking complex, which is absolutely unique as far as its technologies are concerned. There is only a handful of comparable enterprises in the world. Belarus will be one of the lineup. The hydrocracking complex is nearly ready. Over 90% of the total work has been done. In line with the president's instructions construction and installation operations must be finished by summer and startup and commissioning operations must begin. This facility attracts so much attention and represents one of the technological jewels of Belarus,” Roman Golovchenko noted.
Participants of the conference also discussed reasons why some parts of the project are lagging behind. “There are objective reasons at play because it is a most complicated project. All the equipment is unique and had to be shipped in from all over the world. License granters had to adjust technological practices in some places. Design engineers had to introduce certain corrections,” the prime minister said.
The project is being implemented in accordance with a proper business plan. The plan has been verified and gets adjusted bearing in mind input oil volumes. “The project can recoup investments and is being implemented without state funding but only using proprietary and borrowed resources,” Roman Golovchenko specified. He also assured that all the recoupment indicators are in a comfortable and acceptable zone.
Mozyr Oil Refinery was commissioned in 1975. It was converted into a public joint-stock company (OAO) in 1994. The company specializes in refining oil and making and selling oil products. The products are exported to over 20 countries.
