Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 3 / Trend /
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) plans to acquire a gas distribution company in Turkey, SOCAR Foreign Investment Department head, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Petkim Vagif Aliyev told Turkish journalists in Baku.
"SOCAR plans to enter the gas distribution system of Istanbul and Ankara, to partner with IGDAS and Baskentgaz, and to buy a separate gas distribution company," he said.
SOCAR is actively interested in IGDAS, which distributes gas in Istanbul, as well as Baskentgaz Dogalgaz, which distributes gas in Ankara.
According to Aliyev, SOCAR has supplied 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey to meet Petkim's needs. Half of this amount was used for Petkim's own needs and the rest was sold to three buyers on the Turkish market.
"We sold them (the three buyers) gas at prices 4-5 percent below the price of gas that we sell to Botas," Aliyev said. "One of these buyers is Gaziantep Organize Sanayi Bolgesi. The most important thing for us is to meet Petkim's needs. We do not expect much benefit from the sale of the gas, but our goal is to participate in the domestic market in Turkey."
According to Aliyev, SOCAR plans to increase its investments in Petkim. By 2023, SOCAR-Turcas proposes to invest about $20 billion in Petkim's development, he said.