Kam International Oil was launched in 2013 as a joint venture between the Afghan-owned Kam Group and the Azerbaijani company AIFL. The initial US$ 30 million investment went towards the construction of Afghanistan’s first oil refining facility in Hairatan, along the Afghan-Uzbek border.
Located near the border town of Hairatan, the refinery overlooks the Amu-Darya River, the natural border between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Built at a cost of USD 30 million, it stands a symbol of a new Afghanistan, filled with future and hope. The refinery purchases crude oil extracted by the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) at the
Kashkari oil field in Afghanistan’s Sar-e-Pol province, which is then transported overland to Hairatan.
At present 220 Afghan nationals are employed at Kam International Oil, with 30 Azerbaijani and other
foreign nationals serving in positions that require oil refinement expertise.
The production facility has the capacity to refine 500 metric tons of crude oil per day, with storage tankers available to store 25,000-28,000 tons of crude and processed oil. The refining process takes place in two phases. The first phase involves the conversion of the crude oil to mazut (50% of the output), diesel (40%), and naphtha (8%). 2% of the processed crude is discarded as industrial waste. Mazut (also referred to as “fuel oil” or “waste oil”) can be sold as is or undergo a second stage of processing. Mazut that undergoes a second round of processing results in the production of wide oil fraction (65% of output), diesel (10%) and tar oil (25%).