Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.24
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
The total investment of Azerbaijan in the Turkish economy will amount to $20 billion with the construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), the vice-president of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) on economic issues Suleyman Gasimov said Sept.24 during the regional conference "Economic growth and industrialization: the possibility of Azerbaijan and Turkey's experience," in Baku.
The conference was organized by the Azerbaijan-Turkey Business Association (ATIB) under the partnership of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan in connection with the announcement of 2014 year as the year of industry in the country.
To date, Azerbaijan has invested up to $5 billion in the Turkish economy.
The project of TANAP construction is of great importance for both Azerbaijan and Turkey, Gasimov said.
The TANAP project envisages transporting gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field through Turkey up to the country's border with Europe.
The pipeline's initial capacity is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters per year. About six billion cubic meters of gas will be delivered to Turkey and the rest to Europe. In the future, the pipeline capacity can be extended up to 31 billion cubic meters per year.The pipeline's capacity can be further expanded to 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year. It is planned to commission the TANAP pipeline in 2018. The project's cost is estimated at $10 billion to $11 billion.
The volume of investments, along with TANAP, also includes investments of SOCAR to the development of the petrochemical industry in Turkey, according to Gasimov.
In particular, as the vice-president of SOCAR noted, the State Oil Company (as part of its equity) invests in the development of the Petkim petrochemical complex, in the construction of STAR refinery (capacity of 10 million metric tons), container terminal and the power plant, which is necessary for the further development of Petkim.
In 2008, the SOCAR alliance won a tender for the sale of a 51 percent stake of Petkim chemical concern. Currently, Azerbaijan's State Oil Company (SOCAR) holds 61.32 percent of equity share in Petkim. Some 38.67 percent stake is in free circulation on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.
In the first half of 2014 the company's turnover amounted to 2.44 billion Turkish lira, and the utilization rate of production capacities increased by 9 percentage points and reached 90 percent. In January-June Petkim complex earned net profit worth 55 million Turkish lira, which is 11 times more than the same period of 2013. For the entire 2013 net profit of Petkim amounted to 49 million lira.
Petkim Petrokimya Holding manufactures plastic packages, fabric, PVC and detergents. It is the sole Turkish producer making such products, a quarter of which the company exports.
SOCAR includes Azneft (onshore and offshore oil and gas producing companies), Azerkimya (chemical industry) and Azerigas production associations. In addition, the State Oil Company has a number of processing enterprises, service enterprises, institutions involved in geophysical and drilling operations.
SOCAR is the only oil producer in Azerbaijan (it has two refineries on its balance), and also owns petrol stations in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Romania and Switzerland.