SOCAR, BP to build new petrochemical project in Turkey

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

The Turkish Competition Council has given permission to SOCAR and BP to establish a joint venture that will operate in the petrochemical sector, local media reported on July 22.

Earlier it was reported that SOCAR and BP applied to the relevant institutions in Turkey to establish a joint petrochemical company, which will be called Mercury complex, in April 2020.

Recall that on December 20, 2018 SOCAR and BP signed contractual principles for evaluation of plans for creation a world-class petrochemical complex in Turkey and establishment of a joint venture to manage it.

The construction of the new petrochemical complex is expected to enable Turkey to cover the current account deficit by $6 billion annually.

Moreover, the project will increase the share of SOCAR in petrochemical market of Turkey to 35-40 percent.

Construction of the complex was planned to begin during the current year in order to put the enterprise into operation in 2023-2025. However, due to low oil prices and to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project implementation has been postponed until 2021.

The Mercury complex will be built near the Petkim petrochemical complex and the STAR refinery in Aliaga region. The enterprise will produce 1.25 million tons of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), 840 thousand tons of paraxylene (PX), 340 thousand tons of benzene.

PTA is the main raw material in the production of polyester from which beverage and food containers, packaging materials, photo and film and other consumer and industrial goods are derived.