The authorities of Tatarstan expect that the volume of refined oil in the republic will increase up to 23 million tons, the depth of its processing will be up to 98%. Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov said in an interview with TASS.
"According to the strategy of development of fuel and energy complex of the Republic of Tatarstan till 2030, the republic plans to increase the volume of processed oil to 23 million tons with the depth of processing up to 98%," he said.
According to the head of the region, this year it is planned to complete the works on the middle distillates hydrotreatment and catalytic cracking units, which will increase the production of diesel fuel in 2021 to more than 6 million tons and motor gasoline to 1.3 million tons. With the completion of the second delayed coking unit, which is expected next year, the volume of oil refining at TANECO complex can be brought to more than 15 million tons per year, without producing significant amounts of dark petroleum products.
Rustam Minnikhanov noted that this year the companies had to adjust oil production volumes. By the end of 2020, oil production is expected to exceed 32 million tons, which is 13.7% less than in 2019, with Tatneft forecasting oil production of 25.9 million tons. If the OPEC+ deal is completed, Tatneft will be able to restore oil production within a couple of months in the volumes accepted by the company's development strategy. All necessary resources are available for rapid recovery and growth of oil production, the head of the region specified.
"In 2020, the Republic of Tatarstan planned to produce 35.9 million tons of oil, of which Tatneft accounted for 29.2 million tons. Oil for refining was planned at the level of 2019 - a volume of 18.6 million tons. In recent months, the situation in the global oil market remains quite volatile. The fundamental factors, which have been affecting the industry for several years, were joined by economic consequences triggered by the spread of new coronavirus infection in the world," he said.
According to him, Tatneft continues to work abroad and the implementation of joint projects is underway. Tatneft is now successfully implementing a service contract to increase oil production in the Republic of Turkmenistan. Implementation of the set of measures at two oilfields of Turkmen National Oil Company "Turkmennebit" has enabled the company to produce over 280 thousand tons of oil. At present, the Turkmen and Tatarstan oilmen have developed plans to further expand the contract between Tatneft and Turkmennebit to cover additional oil fields. According to forecasts, the extension of the project will make it possible to produce additionally more than 770 thousand tons of oil.
Besides, the company is actively exploring the possibility of resuming its activity on four exploration blocks in Libya. Based on the results of the negotiations a decision will be made on resuming the work. In the Syrian Arab Republic, there are also exploration and oil production assets of Tatneft. At present, work in this direction is suspended due to the declared "force majeure" situation, but the company intends to return to the execution of the contract after the situation in the country stabilizes.
"According to our preliminary estimates, which will be updated as the exploration works are carried out, the cumulative production volume of the projects in Libya and Syria may exceed 50 million tons. Tatneft is interested in considering diversification of production assets and is considering a number of other opportunities for oil production projects, including those in Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East," Rustam Minnikhanov noted.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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