SOCAR taps Baker Hughes for Baku refinery flare-reduction project
State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has let a contract to Baker Hughes Co. to provide technology and equipment designed to reduce emissions from the operator’s 7-million tonne/year (tpy) Heydar Aliyev refinery at Baku in Azerbaijan (OGJ Online, July 1, 2024).
Under the contract signed at the COP29 climate talks in Baku on Nov. 14, Baker Hughes will deliver and implement an integrated gas recovery and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal system into the refinery’s existing infrastructure that—in addition to eliminating hazardous H2S—will help abate the site’s releases of methane and sulfur, the service provider said.
Integration of the new system will also enable SOCAR to use recovered gas volumes—which are currently flared into the atmosphere—as fuel for refining operations, helping to reduce the refinery’s overall fuel gas consumption and operating costs while creating new opportunities for value enhancement and efficiency gains, Baker Hughes said.
Progressing from concept to contract in only 9 months, the project is scheduled to begin immediately for targeted commissioning within 24 months, according to the parties.
In line with Azerbaijan’s March 2024 entry into the Global Methane Pledge and the COP28 presidency’s Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC), the proposed project—which aims to recover flare gas equivalent up to 7 million cu m/year of methane and further reduce CO2 emissions by up to 11,000 tpy—comes as a tangible step by SOCAR to end routine flaring at the refinery by 2030.
“Our collaboration with Baker Hughes reflects SOCAR’s commitment to advancing sustainable operations and reducing emissions across our sites,” said Rovshan Najaf, SOCAR’s president.
In hopes of setting a benchmark for environmental responsibility, the project additionally alighns with SOCAR’s vision for a cleaner, more-efficient energy future in support of the company’s commitment to climate goals, Najaf added.
Neither Baker Hughes nor SOCAR revealed a value of the contract award.
Robert Brelsford | Downstream Editor
Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast, West Coast, Canadian, and Latin American markets. He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University.
