Amec Foster Wheeler wins FEED to modernize major SOCAR refinery

Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract to modernize the Heydar Aliyev oil refinery (HAOR) in Baku, Azerbaijan, officials announced on Tuesday. 

The contract, awarded by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), is part of a major investment to increase the refinery’s capacity and improve the quality of the fuel produced.

Amec Foster Wheeler, in alliance with SOCAR Foster Wheeler Engineering, won the contract and will execute it in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The scope of work is for the development of a number of facilities and the integration of technologies by other providers at HAOR. This will include new facilities for diesel hydro-treatment, isomerization, methyl tertiary-butyl ether, fluid catalytic cracking gasoline treatment, sour water stripper, amine treatment and sulfur recovery. 

A number of existing facilities will also be revamped, including those for crude and vacuum distillation, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and continuous catalytic reforming.

"We have successfully delivered a number of projects for SOCAR, both in Azerbaijan and in other countries, and look forward to continuing our partnership with this contract for the Heydar Aliyev oil refinery, a particularly important facility for the country," said Roberto Penno, Amec Foster Wheeler's group president for Asia, Middle East, Africa and Southern Europe

Amec Foster Wheeler’s scope of work is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2017, while the process of modernization of the refinery is expected to be completed in several phases until early 2020.