First products of Star Refinery to be sold in January
By Leman Mammadova
Star Oil Refinery (NEZ), built by SOCAR in Aliaga district of Izmir, Turkey, will launch production of its first products in January next year, General Director of Star refinery Mesut Ilter said .
“All the units in the plant have been tested. We started to produce the first products and are planning to launch in January. We want to sell our first products to Petkim, that is a symbolic step,” he said.
Ilter noted that Star Oil Refinery is expected to operate at full capacity starting from 2019. The plant will produce 5 million tons of diesel fuel, 1.5 million tons of naphtha, 1.6 million tons of aircraft fuel, 1 million tonnes of xylene / reformat, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), oil coke and sulfur per year.
As many as 1,100 people will be employed here when the plant starts production.
“The total investment of the project is $ 6.3 billion, of which 90 percent is already invested. By the end of 2021, Star's total capacity will be increased. In the end, the investment will total $ 7 billion,” he added.
Opening ceremony of Star Oil Refinery that is the first Turkey-specific Industrial Zone was held in October 2018.
STAR Oil Refinery will supply Petkim with raw materials. STAR Oil Refinery, which was built to improve Petkim's value chain, will make a significant contribution to the diversification of the company's pro vice assets as a project that holds an important place in the new strategic development course of SOCAR.
STAR Oil Refinery will process 34,000 cubic meters of crude oil daily. SOCAR Turkey Energy A.S. earlier reported that STAR will reduce Turkey’s annual deficit by about $1.5 billion. STAR refinery will meet more than 25 percent of the processed oil products need of Turkey upon its startup. Certified with the first investment incentive granted by Turkey, STAR Refinery will eventually reduce the foreign-dependency of the country.
STAR is the biggest investment made by private sector in Turkey. The first crude oil load of 80,000 tons to the STAR Oil Refinery delivered from Azerbaijan. With its 4.8 million tons of diesel fuel and 1.6 million tons of naphtha, Turkey will also increase its competitive power in the global energy market with STAR NEZ, which will also produce oil products such as jet fuel and LPG.
According to the contract signed by SOCAR last month with Rosneft, 1 million tonnes of Russian crude will be supplied to Star oil refinery for one year starting from this December.
Azerbaijani state company SOCAR invests in Turkey through its subsidiary SOCAR Turkey Energy, which is one of the biggest investors investing in Turkish economy, started operating under Petkim in 2008.
Petkim Petrochemical complex, a subsidiary of SOCAR in Turkey, produces plastic packages, fabrics, detergents, and is the sole Turkish manufacturer of such products, a quarter of which is exported. The complex includes 14 factories producing 20 different types of products.
Turkey's first petrochemical plant "Petkim Holding" was established in 1965. SOCAR purchased 51 percent stake in Petkim for $ 2.04 billion, at the end of privatization process in 2008. Over $ 760 million has been invested to improve Petkim over these years.
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