Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 10
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR will provide 20 percent of all investments needed for Turkey’s energy sector until 2023, said SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev.
Abdullayev made the remarks addressing the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul Oct. 10.
“According to the goals put by the Turkish government, investments in the country’s energy sector must reach $100-120 billion until 2023,” he noted adding that SOCAR, with its investments worth $18 billion, will provide 20 percent of the total investments.
SOCAR head also said the global demands are changing and the energy sector should give a prompt response to these changes.
“SOCAR will continue to invest in Turkey’s economy,” said Abdullayev.
He reminded that as a result of decline in oil prices, some companies suspended the implementation of their energy projects.
SOCAR, on the contrary, did not suspend the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project worth $45 billion, he added.
“New decisive steps are needed in order to cope with the future challenges,” Abdullayev said.
Despite of being an oil and gas company, SOCAR’s activity is not confined to oil and gas and the company is working on various projects, including the laying of a fiber-optic cable along the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) through SOCAR Fiber Optik, the construction of wind farms and the freight traffic through Petlim port, he added.
During his speech, Abdullayev also spoke about SOCAR’s projects in Turkey, including the Star refinery, Petkim, Petlim and TANAP.
Speaking about the Star refinery, SOCAR head noted that investments in the refinery are the largest foreign investments in Turkey in the last 30 years and the refinery will enable Turkey to save billions of dollars in imports.
He added that the projects implemented by SOCAR in Turkey will eventually enable the country strengthen its positions on the international arena.