The commissioning ceremony of the expansion and upgrading project of the Caspian asphalt plant in Kazakhstan was held in Aktau, a city in western Kazakhstan, on May 5.

After the renovation, the annual crude oil processing capacity will be increased from 1 million tons to 1.5 million tons, and the annual output of asphalt will increase from 500,000 tons to 750,000 tons, which will effectively alleviate the road asphalt gap required for infrastructure construction in Kazakhstan and become another pragmatic cooperation achievement of China-Kazakhstan Belt and Road Initiative.

Kazakh National Oil and Gas Company President Khasenov said that during the renovation process, the quality and efficiency of the construction on the Chinese side were "amazing", which fully demonstrated the professional construction organization ability and the spirit of contract performance.

Liu Hongliang, project manager of CITIC Construction, said that the project team will continue to deepen the Harbin market, promote the implementation of local projects that are urgently needed for the national economy and people's livelihood, and contribute to the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Caspian asphalt plant is the first large-scale petrochemical project built in Kazakhstan after independence, and it is also the only refinery in Central Asia specializing in the production of high-standard road asphalt, which was completed and put into operation in 2013. The plant is jointly invested by CITIC Group and Kazakhstan National Oil and Gas Company, and constructed by CITIC Construction. With the expansion of road construction demand in Kazakhstan, the reconstruction and expansion project of the Caspian asphalt plant was officially launched in May last year, and CITIC Construction implemented capacity expansion and upgrading on the basis of the original site.(This article is from the official website of Seetao www.seetao.com. Reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited. Please indicate Seetao.com + original link when reprinting) Seetao.com Strategy Column Editor/Sun Fengjuan