President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited the Bukhara Oil Refinery in Karaulbazar district and was presented with plans to modernize the facility.
The refinery is one of Uzbekistan’s largest producers of petroleum products and employs more than 3,200 specialists. In the first nine months of this year, it produced 1.36 million tons of petroleum products worth a total of 12.1 trillion soums. Exports of products and services amounted to $99.5 million. By the end of the year, it is planned to increase this figure to $116 million.
The modernization project presented to the Head of State aims to increase the volume of feedstock processed and expand the refinery’s capacity to produce high-octane gasoline. The total cost of the project is $328 million.
The project includes plans to install equipment for naphtha hydrotreating and isomerization. Hydrotreating reduces sulfur and other impurities in the feedstock, while isomerization increases the octane rating of gasoline produced from light petroleum fractions. These processes are essential for expanding production of AI-92 and AI-95 gasoline that meets the Euro 5 environmental standard.
The project also includes improvements to feedstock fractionation and the deep processing of heavy residues. As a result, the refinery’s annual processing capacity will increase by 2.5 million tons to reach 5 million tons. Higher processing volumes and increased output of finished products will strengthen domestic market supply and increase exports.
The President instructed officials to ensure that modernization work is completed on schedule and meets high quality standards, integrate the new equipment with existing production processes, and maintain the refinery’s stable operations. He also spoke with representatives of foreign companies involved in the project.