SOCAR Energy Turkey to occupy lion’s share of industry

/AzerNews/

By Gulgiz Dadashova

SOCAR Energy Turkey intends to become the largest industrial company in Turkey by 2023.

SOCAR Turkey's chief executive Kenan Yavuz made the remark while visiting the 2nd SOCAR Oil and Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex Forum in Baku on November 5.

He said the company's total turnover is expected to reach $15 billion in 2018 and by 2023 this figure will amount to $30 billion.

SOCAR Energy Turkey, which is Turkish representation of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, now ranks second in the field of industrial production in Turkey. The company owns equal shares in Petkim Petrokimya Holding engaged in the manufacturing of plastic packages, fabric, PVC and detergents. It is also involved in the construction of an oil refinery, a container terminal and power plant near Aliaga in Turkey.

"The company is currently implementing a number of large-scale projects in Turkey, namely, the construction of oil refinery, container port and electricity generation facilities," Yavuz said.

He further said that a new refinery "Star" is expected to be commissioned in early 2018. Afterwards, the company will turn into the second largest industrial company in Turkey.

The total capacity of the Star refinery will be 10 million metric tons. Oil products produced at the refinery will be delivered to meet the needs of the Petkim chemical concern and the Turkish domestic market.

SOCAR and a consortium of Tecnicas Reunidas SA, Saipem SpA, GS Engineering & Construction Corp and Itochu companies signed an EPC- contract (Engineering, procurement and construction) in May 2013.

The total cost of the project on the construction of SOCAR's refinery in Turkey exceeds $5 billion. Azerbaijan's state oil fund allocated $475 million to finance this project. Around $3.29 billion will be drawn from 23 financial institutions.

Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim and Dutch company APM Terminals signed an agreement on construction of a container port with the capacity of 1.5 million TEU in February 2013. APM Terminals will be entitled to manage the port for 28 years. A container port is planned to be completed by late 2014 - early 2015. The project will cost $ 400 million.

A power station of Petkim petrochemical holding is planned to be constructed in Izmir in 2016. The power station will be put into operation the same year.

Economic projects, jointly implemented by Azerbaijan and Turkey, are bringing these countries together and strengthening their cooperation. These two countries are connected by several important regional projects, including the Baku-Supsa, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipelines, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas line, and TANAP.

The total investment of Azerbaijan in Turkey is expected to reach $20 billion after the construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline.