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Atyrau oil refinery | Source: KAZINFORM (May 14, 2025)

The Atyrau Refinery is Kazakhstan's oldest operating refinery, commissioned in September 1945, and is located within the city of Atyrau, western Kazakhstan, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. The original facility was designed and built by Badger and Sons (US) using Lend-Lease equipment, with an initial processing capacity of approximately 800,000 tonnes per year (t/y). Through successive equipment upgrades from the 1960s to the 1980s, capacity was progressively expanded to 4.3 MMtpy. Following the major modernisation programme of the 2010s, the refinery's current installed crude processing capacity is 5.5 MMtpy (~110,000 bbl/d).

The refinery processes Kazakhstani Caspian crude oil sourced principally from the western Kazakhstan fields — primarily from the Tengiz and Emba oil fields — giving it a fundamentally different crude slate orientation from the West Siberian crude-fed Pavlodar (POCR) refinery.

Current Operating Parameters (2025)

Modernisation Programme and Phased Expansion

ANPZ underwent a comprehensive three-phase modernisation programme spanning approximately 2008–2017, with further work ongoing to 2027. The programme was designed to increase throughput, raise conversion depth, achieve Euro-5 fuel quality, and add an entirely new petrochemical dimension through an integrated aromatics complex:

• Phase 1 — Atmospheric & Vacuum Distillation Reconstruction: Revamp of the primary distillation train (ELOU-ABT atmospheric distillation and vacuum block), increasing vacuum block capacity from 1.6 MMt/y to 1.8 MMt/y. EPC contractor: Rominserv Kazakhstan / Petromidia Navodari and Vega Ploiesti

• Phase 2 — Aromatics Complex (New Grassroots): Construction of a 629,000 t/y petrochemical complex producing 496,000 t/y paraxylene and 133,000 t/y benzene, including a new CCR catalytic reforming unit (1 MMt/y throughput) and full BTX separation train. EPC contractor: SINOPEC Engineering

• Phase 3 — Deep Conversion Complex: Addition of a new Fluid Catalytic Cracker (FCC) and associated hydrotreating units (gasoline hydrotreating, diesel hydrotreating, naphtha hydrotreating, benzene hydrogenation, isomerisation), plus a new hydrogen production unit. Also included upgrade of the Delayed Coking Unit (DCU) from 700,000 t/y to 1,000,000 t/y. EPC consortium: Marubeni Corporation + SINOPEC Engineering + KazStroyService

An ongoing further upgrade phase — targeting completion by 2027 — is expected to fully commission the aromatics complex and enable production of paraxylene and benzene at design capacity, along with advancement to full Euro-5 (K5+) fuel quality across the product slate.

References

1. Atyrau Oil Refinery (ANPZ LLP) — About the Company (last retrieved June 2026)
2. Atyrau Oil Refinery (ANPZ LLP) — Production Units (last retrieved June 2026)
3. Atyrau Oil Refinery (ANPZ LLP) — Book «70 years of Atyrau refinery» (Approved for printing on Sep 15, 2015). Aldongar Publishing House, 2015. ISBN 978-601-7119-24-9  
4. Atyrau Oil Refinery (ANPZ LLP) — Deep oil refining complex (last retrieved June 2026)
5. China AidData — China Eximbank Provides $1.13 Billion Buyer's Credit for Atyrau Refinery Modernisation (lCommitment date Jun 6, 2012)
6. Offshore Technology — Atyrau Refinery Modernisation Project, Atyrau oblast (Jul 22, 2013)
7. KazMunayGas (KMG) — Press Release: EPC Contract Signed for Shymkent Refinery Modernisation (Jan 30, 2014)
8. A Barrel Full — Atyrau Refinery Upgrade Project (last edited Sep 17, 2014). Retrieved via the Web Archive
9. Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) — Project File: PetroKazakhstan Oil Products LLP — Modernisation and Reconstruction of the Shymkent Oil Refinery (funds attracted for 2015-2019)
10. ABB Group — News Release: ABB to Modernize Shymkent Oil Refinery, Supporting Digitalization of Kazakhstan (Jul 30, 2019)
11. Oil & Gas Journal — PetroKazakhstan Lets Contract for Shymkent Refinery Revamp (Jul 30, 2019)
12. EBRD — Board Report: Kazakhstan Atyrau Refinery Sustainability Loan (Sep 16, 2020)
13. ECI (Eco China Info) — Shymkent Oil Refinery Project Profile (Jul 18, 2022)
14. oilandgasrefining.ry — Onsite visit to Atyrau Oil Refinery, NC KazMunayGaz (March 3, 2023
15. Offshore Technology — Market Data: Shymkent Refinery Coking Refinery, Kazakhstan (Last updated May 14, 2024)
16. Trend.az — Kazakhstan, China Plan to Boost Capacity of Shymkent Oil Refinery (May 24, 2024)
17. QazProjects — $1 bln Doubling the Capacity of Shymkent Oil Refinery (Apr 4, 2025)
18. Qazinform — Kazakhstan, China Start Development of Shymkent Oil Refinery Expansion Project (Feb 3, 2026)
19. Trend.az — Kazakhstan, China Begin Development of Shymkent Oil Refinery Expansion to 12 MMt/y (Feb 3, 2026)
20. Atyrau Oil Refinery (ANPZ LLP) — The Atyrau Oil Refinery is commencing scheduled maintenance work on the slow coking unit (Mar 11, 2026)
21. Global Energy Monitor Wiki — ANPZ Atyrau Refinery (Last edited June 19, 2026)