One of SOCAR's most important areas of activity is the production and sale of petrochemical products. The Ethylene-Polyethylene Plant of Azerikimya Production Union, one of SOCAR's key structural units, holds a large share in the country's petrochemical industry.
The history of the chemical industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1945, when the country's first chemical enterprise, originally named Ozer and later known as the Sumgait Surfactants Plant, produced its first output. The Sumgait Synthetic Rubber Plant, considered the largest petrochemical enterprise of its time, was founded in 1950. In 1980–1983, the Superphosphate Plant, a new high-productivity technological complex producing granular superphosphate fertilizers, was built and put into operation for the first time in the South Caucasus.
In the 1970s–1980s, thanks to the determination and principled stance of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, construction of the EP-300 unit began, and this unique facility was commissioned in 1989. The launch of the new technological complex marked the start of production of valuable chemical products such as ethylene, propylene, butylene-butadiene fraction, light and heavy pyrolysis resin, and propane. The main feedstock of this complex was hydrocarbon products from the Baku Oil Refinery (now the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery). As a technological continuation of the EP-300 complex, the construction of the Polymir-120 unit, designed for high-pressure polyethylene production, was also made possible with the support of Heydar Aliyev. The commissioning of this unit, with equipment brought from Germany and the then Czechoslovakia and an annual production capacity of 120 thousand tonnes of polyethylene, gave a strong impetus to the production of polymer products in the republic, including polymer pipes, coatings and various household goods. In 1994, the Ethylene-Polyethylene Plant was established on the basis of the EP-300 and Polymir-120 units
In accordance with the State Programme for the Development of Industry in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2015–2020, approved by Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 26 December 2014, modernization and reconstruction works were launched at the EP-300 unit of the Ethylene-Polyethylene Plant of Azerikimya PU in 2016. These works were successfully completed, and the plant currently has an annual production capacity of 190 thousand tonnes of ethylene and 187 thousand tonnes of propylene.
The plant comprises the modern EP-300 production facility, the Polymir-120 production facilities and the Steam and Electricity Production Facility. Since 2013, new Nitrogen-Oxygen and Water Cooling units have been in operation to ensure that the production facilities are fully supplied with energy carriers in line with regulatory standards.
The EP-300 unit receives straight-run gasoline, technical butane (LPG), dry gas fraction (C1–C2) and technical propane (PPF) fraction from the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery as feedstock. In addition to the main products, processing this feedstock yields other intermediate products: butylene-butadiene fraction (BBF), liquid pyrolysis resin, heavy resin, hydrogen, methane-hydrogen, ethane and propane fractions. The plant also has facilities for producing technical and absolute isopropyl alcohol; commissioned in 1966, this unit has a design capacity of 25,000 tonnes per year.
In general, the products manufactured at the plant are supplied to meet domestic demand, to SOCAR Polymer LLC and Azneft Production Union, as well as for sale.