BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 10
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
If the drop in diesel consumption reaches 40 percent, the capacity of Azerbaijani state oil company’s Star Refinery will have to be reduced by 10-15 percent, said Zaur Gahramanov, CEO of SOCAR Turkey, Trend reports citing Turkish media.
“Unfortunately, COVID-19 affects our projects. The most important issue now is consumption. SOCAR works in 15 countries and there is a 50-60 percent drop in consumption. Jet fuel consumption has also decreased significantly due to flight bans. As it is a new refinery, our technology ensures production flexibility. We converted our jet fuel production into diesel as of March. There has also been a 15 percent drop in diesel consumption in the past month. As long as social isolation continues, this decline will continue. According to our calculations, if the drop in consumption reaches 40 percent, we will need to reduce the capacity of the refinery by 10-15 percent. Of course, we hope it does not, but we are ready for any scenario,” he said.
The opening ceremony of the Star oil refinery took place on October 19, 2018 in Izmir, Turkey.
The total refining capacity of the refinery is 10 million tons. The refinery will significantly reduce the dependence of Turkey on imports of petrochemical products.
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