Devoted to 40th Anniversary of Shymkent Oil Refinery
History of the Shymkent Refinery
1972 – construction was started at the LK-6U Unit, which is today rightly known as the “heart of the refinery”. LK-6U Unit was also the name chosen for the project to build the Shymkent Refinery. A non-standard equipment shop was built during the year. However, the project was then suspended due to the simultaneous construction of several other oil refineries across the USSR, in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
1976 – construction work was resumed with support shops and the start of the delivery of equipment for the main shop – today’s Shop No.1.
1978 – other two new facilities were commissioned – water supply, sewage and treatment facilities workshop for the Thermap power plant-3, which supplied heat to the city’s industrial zone, and the refinery’s transportation centre – the storage shop.
April 1983 – a historical event at the Shymkent Refinery – the receipt of the first oil from Western Siberia through the Omsk-Pavlodar-Chimkent pipeline. 11 April saw the rail shipment of “black gold” to the Fergana Oil Refinery. With the arrival of the first oil, the final construction phase at the LK-6U began.
1984 – several more shops were commissioned, such as the steam, water and air supply shop with nitrogen and oxygen station divisions; a central condensate station, an air compression unit and the central refinery laboratory. Without them, the LK-6U unit could not have been commissioned. The LK-6U unit was commissioned in stages, leading to the launch of the Section 100 (electrical desalting plant) in December 1984.
28 January 1985 – the first Shymkent petrol is produced! This was the birth of the Shymkent Refinery. A number of highly-qualified experts were invited to work at the refinery from other USSR refineries in Guryev, Pavlodar, Fergana and Ufa, and they all helped to launch refinery in a such time-constrained terms. They included S.Amirbekov, V.Kovalenko, V.Khvan, B.Tulenov, S.Mirzadavletov, V.Mikhailov and others, who then went on to found shop No.1.
August 1985 – another two LK-6U sections are commissioned – sections 200 and 300.
January 1986 – the gas fraction section 400 is launched. From spring 1986, the Shymkent Refinery begins full capacity operations of up to 6 million tonnes per year.
Spring 1990 – the refinery receives oil from Kumkol after previously working with relatively heavy West-Siberian oil, whose sulphur content was average, paraffin content low, and for which the refinery was initially designed. However, after the break-up of the USSR, the supply of crude oil became an acute issue, and West-Siberian oil was replaced by Kumkol oil.
12 February 1996 – the South-Kazakhstan Regional Committee for State Assets created JSC Shymkentnefteorgsintez (ShNOS) at the State Shymkent Refinery (Resolution No. 251 of 30 December 1993).
1998 – the diesel hydrotreatment unit was reconstructed to be operated in hydrodewaxing process. This was made because Kumkol crude was lighter, lower in sulphur and higher in paraffin content than the previously used West-Siberian oil, and it lead to difficulties in producing diesel and kerosene. However, the change in technical processes by upgrading the supply chain helped maintain the diesel product range and increase the selection of “light” petroleum products.
2000 – the Shymkent Refinery was purchased by Hurricane Hydrocarbons Ltd, and subsequently changed its name to PetroKazakhstan.
2001 – new aviation kerosene production technology was introduced.
2005 – PetroKazakhstan Inc. was purchased by CNPC, a subsidiary of the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation.
2007 – the Shymkent Refinery acquired another shareholder in the form of KazMunaiGas with a 50% interest. Sincethat moment, PKOP’s main success has been due to having two strong shareholders in the national companies of two countries – Kazakhstan’s KMG and China’s CNPC.
2014 – the start of the major Shymkent Refinery Modernization Project, which opened a new page in the history of PKOP development. Consisting of two stages, the aim of the Project was to improve fuel quality to K4/K5 standard, the ecological safety of the production process, increase refinery capacity and the production of light petroleum products to cover Kazakhstan market demand. In terms of its size, the Project was comparable to the construction of a new refinery, as it involved six new major processing units, the reconstruction of approximately 10 auxiliary blocks/units and the construction of another 10 general refinery facilities, including treatment, water recycling, LHCG storage and other facilities. It was financed by parity loans from KMG RM and CNPC E&D. A loan was also received from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan. The total investment amount was 1.8 billion USD.
2015 – a 4 thousand tonne/year sulphur production unit was built and commissioned, becoming the first technologically complex facility in PKOP recent history and introducing granulated sulphur into the product line. This provided a kick-start for related sectors in Oblast due to the wide use of sulphur in the chemical and rubber industry, in agriculture and pharmaceuticals.
23 June 2017 – the first automatic spot loading unit in Kazakhstan was launched at the Shymkent Refinery together with a hydrocarbon vapour recovery block, factoring in ecological requirements. The unit ensures the airtight loading of petroleum products into tanks using telescopic equipment, which prevents hydrocarbon vapour emissions.
30 June 2017 – a major processing facility was commissioned – the light petrol fraction isomerisation unit with a preliminary crude hydrotreatment block, announcing the start of K4/K5 standard vehicle fuel production. The new unit increases the octane level of petrol and simultaneously reduces carcinogenic benzol levels by 5 times. Its commission saw the successful conclusion of the first stage of the Modernization Project and a transition to the 100% production of high-octane vehicle fuel at the Shymkent Refinery.
August 2018 – a number of important events as part of the second stage of the Modernization Project. 1 August saw the start of crude oil being fed to the RFCC catalytic cracking unit, 15 August – the start of conditioned product production, and 30 August – the full transition of stage two facilities to pilot operations, which signalled the conclusion of the Modernization Project. All Project goals were achieved, and this can especially be seen in high-octane petrol production levels – Ai-92 petrol production has more than tripled compared to the pre-upgrade period, and Ai-95 production has increased by an impressive 16 times!
28 September 2018 – President Nazarbayev paid a working visit to PKOP to see the results of the Shymkent Refinery Modernization Project for himself.
On May 23, 2024, the Ministry of Energy, JSC NC KazMunayGas, PetroKazakhstan Oil Products LLP and CNPC representatives held a working meeting on the status and planned work on the project “Expansion of production capacity of the Shymkent Oil Refinery to 12 million tons of oil per year”.