Baku Heydar Aliyev Refinery Selects UOP Technologies for High-Octane Gasoline Project.

DES PLAINES, Ill. -- UOP Limited has been awarded a contract with Baku Heydar Aliyev Refinery (BHAR) for the basic design of a new high-octane gasoline complex, including an Alkylene(TM) process unit, an Oxypro(TM) process unit, and a Butamer(TM) process unit, to be located in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Alkylene unit will be the world's first commercialization of UOP's novel motor fuel alkylation technology, which uses a solid catalyst instead of liquid acid to alkylate C4-olefins with iso-butane. The Alkylene unit will produce 300,000 MTA of motor fuel alkylate; and the Oxypro unit will produce 130,000 MTA of DIPE - high-octane gasoline components used for the production of environmentally friendly gasoline.

This new project is an integral part of BHAR's modernization program, targeted to increase production of environmentally friendly oil products, and in particular, motor fuels. Production is scheduled to begin in 2008.

UOP Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of UOP LLC, a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, process plants, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. UOP LLC is headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., USA.

Baku Heydar Aliyev Refinery is a State-owned Azerbaijan company that is an integral part of State Oil Corporation of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). It is one of the most complex refineries in the FSU, producing a broad range of high-quality motor fuels and other oil products.