Tajik President Emomali Rahmon launched the construction of the country's first oil refinery during a working trip to the town of Tursunzoda in the Shahrinav district.
Energy-poor Tajikistan has suffered from high hydrocarbon energy import bills since 1991. In 2009 and the CIA estimated that Tajikistan produces only 221 barrels per day of oil, as opposed to its consumption rate of 38,000 barrels per day.
Tajikistan began considering construction of an oil refinery after Russia introduced export duties on light oil products. According to official data, Tajikistan now spends annually $343 million on oil imports, out of a state budget of roughly $2 billion.
The oil refinery will be built in the Shahrinav district, 30 miles from the capital Dushanbe and will have an initial annual production capacity of 100,000 tons of oil per year. Rahmon suggested that if funding could be found to increase the refinery's capacity up to 500,000 tons per year then 90 percent of the country's fuel and lubricants would be met by the new installation, Moscow's Regnum news agency reported.
Energy analysts state that the kind of refinery envisaged for Tajikistan plants can be built in four-five months at a cost of $100 to $150 million and could pay for itself within eight months under local conditions.
By. Charles Kennedy, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More