The government of Mongolia—through wholly owned Mongol Refinery State Owned LLC—has signed a memorandum of understanding with Engineers India Ltd. (EIL) for delivery of additional work on the country’s first refinery project now under construction on 150 hectares in Altanshiree Soum near Sainshand in the southeastern province of Dornogovi (OGJ Online, June 22, 2018).
As part of the MOU signed on Feb. 10, EIL will provide project management consultancy services for construction of the 30,100-b/d grassroots refinery, India’s Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas said in a news release.
A value of the contract was not disclosed.
This latest contract follows Mongolia’s earlier award to EIL for delivery of a detailed feasibility study on the project (OGJ Online, Jan. 26, 2018).
Supported by a $1-billion soft credit line to Mongolia from India announced in May 2015, the new refinery comes as part of India’s effort to develop further ties with the landlocked country and help reduce its energy dependence on neighboring China and Russia.
While a timeframe for official commissioning of the project has yet to be revealed, the refinery, once completed, will process Mongolia’s own shale crude production currently exported to China to produce 560,000 tonnes/year of gasoline, 670,000 tpy of diesel, and 107,000 tpy of liquefied gas for domestic use, helping to reduce the country’s finished product imports from Russia.
Alongside construction of the refinery, Mongolia previously said it also would work on construction of an electric power transmission line as well as 20 km of railway and roadway to connect the manufacturing site to nearby Sainshand.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
