TURKMENISTAN: TURKMENBASHY OIL REFINERY CONTINUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000174 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN; EEB; NEA/IR ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/BURPOE/COHEN COMMERCE FOR DSTARKS/EHOUSE E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2020 TAGS: EPET ECON PGOV EINV BTIO SENV IR TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: TURKMENBASHY OIL REFINERY CONTINUES TO GROW REF: A. 09 ASHGABAT 424 ¶B. ASHGABAT 35 ¶C. 09 ASHGABAT 1606 Classified By: Charge Sylvia Reed Curran for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Turkmenistan's largest oil refinery is located in the northwestern city of Turkmenbashy (previously known as Krasnovodsk) on the Caspian Sea. The Turkmenbashy oil refinery produces diesel fuel, gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and a variety of petrochemical products. According to the refinery's director, Iran is the largest consumer of Turkmen refined oil products, and is particularly interested in buying more LPG from Turkmenistan. The refinery head stated that oil production in Turkmenistan is on the rise, and the Government of Turkmenistan (GOTX) strongly supports efforts to increase production at the refinery, while limiting the negative impact on the environment. Refinery officials noted that there are several upcoming oil sector investment opportunities in Turkmenistan, and they hoped that U.S. companies would compete for subsequent tenders. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) On January 28, econoff met with the director of the Turkmenbashy oil refinery Temek-Gylych Hoshanov to discuss the GOTX's plans to develop its oil industry and increase its petroleum-based product output, including LPG. Hoshanov has served as director of the country's largest refinery for a little over a year, but has worked in the Turkmen oil industry for 16 years. Although he reports directly to the Deputy Chairman for Oil and Gas Baymyrat Hojamuhammedov, he also has supervisory authority for the Seidi refinery in eastern Turkmenistan and the Kiyanli LPG terminal. (NOTE: Tachberdi Tagyev, who was relieved as Deputy Chairman for Oil and Gas for incompetence on May 18, 2009, and named the Seidi refinery director on the same day. Although there were reports that Tagyev had been arrested and was in jail soon after his move to Seidi, post confirmed with Tagyev's assistant at the Seidi refinery that Tagyev is still on the job. The assistant offered to connect us to Tagyev's office and cell phone, adding that rumors of Tagyev's arrest were just that -- rumors. Ministry of Oil and Gas officials confirmed that Tagyev remains the director of the Seidi refinery. END NOTE.) 
 TURKMENBASHY REFINERY PRODUCTS ¶3. (C) The Turkmenbashy refinery director boasted that there are 6,300 employees at the refinery complex. As a result of an increase in domestic oil production in 2009, the refinery also increased its output. He underscored that modernization and expansion at the refinery resulted in increased product quality. For example, he asserted that all gasoline produced at the refinery currently meets European level 4 (E4) standards, while prior to 2009, much of the gasoline only met E3 standards. Hoshanov stressed that 23 percent of the gasoline produced at the refinery is for domestic consumption, while 77 percent of production is exported to Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Afghanistan. The lion's share is exported to Iran. He stated that thanks to President Berdimuhamedov, Turkmen citizens still receive vouchers for 120 liters of free gasoline each month, and the refinery has a legal obligation to ensure that each eligible Turkmen citizen has their allotment of gasoline before any exports are sent out of the country. ¶4. (C) According to Hoshanov, the renovated and expanded refinery complex produces diesel and unleaded gasoline, kerosene, liquefied gas, aircraft fuel, lubricants, and polyethylene (used to make plastic bags). He noted that the ASHGABAT 00000174 002 OF 002 refinery is focusing on ethane gas development projects, and is seeking partners to invest in petrochemical deals. The director could not provide specific details about the commercial opportunities, but thought that more and more tenders would be announced in the coming months. He added that the refinery continues to implement technologies to reduce harmful emissions at the refinery as well as projects for isolating and cleaning polluted water near the refinery that could run off into the Caspian Sea. A GOTX official noted that in the past, birds that landed in the run off water would die a few minutes after landing, whereas, after employing water cleaning equipment, waterfowl are frequently seen swimming in the previous runoff areas. Another official asserted that President Berdimuhamedov had ordered refinery heads to clean up the refinery in order to reduce air and water emissions would harm Turkmenbashy and the Avaza Tourist Zone (Ref B). IRAN--TURKMENISTAN'S BIGGEST ENERGY CUSTOMER? ¶5. (C) Refinery director Hoshanov stated that Iran was "hands down" the refinery's largest customer, and that Turkmenistan's southern neighbor "could not seem to get enough Turkmenbashy refinery products." He pointed out that, along the road leading to the refinery, one can see rows and rows of Iranian trucks, waiting to pick up the refinery's products and head back to Iran. He felt that Turkmenistan's commercial energy relationship with Iran was only strengthened by the opening of the Dowletabat-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipeline on January 6. Hoshanov proudly announced that Turkmenistan would send gas to Turkey via Iran and then on to Europe in the future, making Turkmenistan's role as a world energy supplier even more important. He stressed that Turkmenistan makes "apolitical" decisions when it comes to energy, adding that Turkmenistan will sell its energy to all countries that will buy it at the Turkmen border. ¶6. (C) Concerning Turkmenistan's first LPG terminal in Kiyanli, Hoshanov stated that it was logical that the Iranian company Pars Energy won the tender to build the LPG terminal, given Iran's plans to increase its purchases of Turkmen LPG as soon as possible (Ref C). He admitted that during the rush to build the terminal, proper attention was not given to the procurement of LPG tankers. As a result, he added, the terminal is ready to go, but until the GOTX secures at least two 800 ton capacity tankers, the LPG terminal will remain a liability. He invited U.S. ship builders to submit proposals for LPG taners as soon as possible. ¶7. (C) COMMENT: The Turkmenbashy oil refinery continues to expand its product line and cadre of employees. It appears that the refinery relies on Iran for the bulk of its sales. The refinery director noted an absence of U.S. companies vying for refinery tenders. He was not convinced that U.S. companies really want to invest in Turkmenistan, since he had seen few of them in his 16 years in the business. At the same time, he hoped that U.S. companies would partner with the Turkmenbashy refinery in several areas, including training refinery employees how to maintain and repair expensive western-made equipment. He thought U.S. companies that were willing to establish on-site training programs would be in high demand, and he encouraged U.S. companies to provide competition to Russian and Turkish companies that had "discovered business opportunities in Turkmenistan's refineries a long time ago." END COMMENT. CURRAN