No oil refinery in Armenia

Armenian minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsesian has stated that in 2009 Armenia and Iran will start constructing the Tavriz (Iran) to Ersakh (Armenia) pipeline which will pump oil products produced by the Tavriz oil refinery. Movsesian said the project will satisfy Armenian demand for benzene and diesel fuel.

Armenia consumes up to 500 thousand tonnes of fuel annually. According to official estimates constructing the pipeline will cost around USD 240 million.

Russia and Armenia had earlier planned to build an oil refinery in Armenia. In 2007 the then Presidents Kocharian and Putin announced this, and Armenia even produced a feasibility study for building a refinery at Megri which would process 7.5 million tonnes of crude oil received from Iran. This quantity would satisfy Armenian needs and the residue could be re-exported back to Iran. However after further recalculation the Russian side has frustrated this project as it does not consider it economically viable for Russia.