ZCZC
BCN-16
MONGOLIA-RUSSIA-INDIA-CHINA-OIL
Mongolia builds first refinery to ease Russian fuel dependence
ULAANBAATAR, June 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Mongolia broke ground on Friday for
the construction of the country’s first oil refinery with the help of a $1
billion loan from India to ease its dependence on Russian fuel.
India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh attended the ceremony along with
Mongolian Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa in a remote corner of the Gobi
Desert.
Mongolia hopes the project will boost the economy and reduce its
dependence on foreign gasoline imports. Nearly all of its petroleum products
come from Russia.
The refinery and associated pipelines and power plant are being funded
with a 20-year $1 billion loan from India’s export-import bank.
The project could boost Mongolia’s gross domestic product by up to 10
percent, according to a government statement.
The economy of the landlocked country sandwiched between Russia and China
has struggled in recent years and has been propped up by a $5.5 billion IMF
bailout.
The refinery will have capacity to process 1.5 million tonnes of oil
annually, according to Mongol Refinery, the state-owned company that will
build the plant.
The plant will employ 600 workers and construction is expected to take
four years.
It is expected to produce annually 560,000 tonnes of gasoline, 670,000
tonnes of diesel fuel and 107,000 tonnes of liquified gas.
More than 500 kilometres of pipeline will be needed to transport the crude
oil from Mongolia’s oil fields in Dornod province.
The fields are operated by PetroChina Daqing Tamsag, which has exported
2.8 million barrels through the first five months of this year, according to
the National Statistical Office.
China is currently the recipient of nearly of Mongolia’s crude oil.
Mongolia imported 144,000 tonnes of gasoline worth $97.4 million in the
first five months of this year. In the same period it imported from $206.8
million worth of diesel.
BSS/AFP/HR/0958