Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.16 / Trend, A.Taghiyeva /
SOCAR Turkey Energy will start importing 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Azerbaijan from Jan.1, 2013, SOCAR Turkey Energy head, and board member of the Petkim petrochemical complex Kenan Yavuz said in an interview with the Turkish newspaper Zaman, published on Tuesday.
According to Yavuz, 400-500 million cubic meters of imported gas will be used for the production in the Petkim complex, while the rest part of the gas will be sold on Turkey's domestic market.
Yavuz said many Turkish companies are interested in purchasing gas imported from Azerbaijan.
Today, SOCAR Turkey Energy has a power plant with capacity of 220 megawatt, however, after the start of commissioning of the Petkim oil complex energy demand will increase up to 350 megawatts, Yavuz said.
A new power plant with capacity of 150-200 megawatts will be established to meet Petkim's needs. The cost of the new power plant, which will run on coal, will be $200 million, he said.
On March 30, SOCAR Turkey Enerji A.S and SOCAR International DMCC OGG acquired a 10.32 per cent stake in Petkim, increasing SOCAR's stake in the company to 61.32 per cent. Some 38.67 per cent are in free circulation at the Istanbul Stock Exchange.
Petkim Petrokimya Holding manufactures plastic packages, fabric, PVC, detergents, being the only Turkish producer of such products, a quarter of which the company exports.