Shymkent Oil Refinery Reconstruction and Modernization Project

zone

Cities

Shymkent

Kazakhstan

Cost

$1.8b

$1,800,000,000

Phases

operational, 2018

Objective

Description

Shymkent Oil Refinery Reconstruction and Modernization Project is one of the largest refinery modernization projects in post-Soviet Central Asia and a major example of Sino-Kazakh industrial-energy cooperation. Located in Shymkent in southern Kazakhstan, the project upgraded an aging Soviet-era refinery into a modern Euro-4/Euro-5-standard processing complex integrated into Kazakhstan’s broader energy-industrial modernization strategy.

History

The original refinery was built in the 1970s–1980s during the Soviet period and became technologically outdated after independence. Before modernization: refining depth was low, fuel quality was below modern standards, Kazakhstan still imported high-grade fuels despite being an oil producer. The modernization program formally began around 2011 under Kazakhstan’s State Program for Accelerated Industrial-Innovative Development.