Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR will help Turkey to save billions of dollars in fuel import after launching the Star refinery in 2018, Zaur Gahramanov, director general of SOCAR Turkey Energy, said in his interview with the Energy Business magazine.
Gahramanov noted that the Star refinery, construction of which has been completed by 82 percent, will make a huge contribution to the development of economy of Turkey and the entire region.
Speaking about other SOCAR projects in Turkey, the director general said that the Azerbaijani company intends to become one of big producers until 2020, the activity of which covers the whole chain – “processing plant-petrochemistry-energy-logistics-distribution”.
“Since we obtained the Petkim petrochemical complex for $2.04 billion in 2008, it has become the biggest exporter of the Aegean Sea region that delivers its products to 50 countries,” noted Gahramanov.
Currently, Petkim employs about 150,000 people, he added.
In total, said the director general, SOCAR’s investments in the Petlim container port, Petkim petrochemical complex, Star refinery, Petkim wind farm and Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) reached $11 billion in 2016.
“Once the implementation of projects is completed, our investments will reach $18 billion. After Petkim’s privatization, SOCAR additionally invested $600 million in the company. The total volume of investments in TANAP will be $8.5 billion, in Star refinery - $5.7 billion, in Petlim - $400 million,” said the head of SOCAR Turkey Energy.