Turkish Denizbank joins Star oil refinery project
By Aynur Jafarova
Turkish Denizbank will help to finance the project on construction of Star oil refinery of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, local Turkish newspaper reported on March 19.
"Denizbank expressed its willingness to allocate $500 million for this purpose. SOCAR appealed to the Turkish banks after rejection by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to finance the project", the newspaper said.
Earlier SOCAR Vice President for Economic Affairs Suleyman Gasimov told Trend Agency that all the banks and interested parties have already submitted their final proposals to participate in the financing of this project which is valid until March 31.
Star oil refinery will be operational in 2017. The new Star refinery with an annual capacity of 10 million tons will be capable of refining oil grades such as Azeri Light, Kirkuk, and Urals.
Some 16 billion cubic meters of gas will be produced in the Shah Deniz Stage 2 development and exported to energy markets. This figure will be increased by one billion cubic meters per year.
Estimated at $5.5 billion, the refinery is mostly intended for creating a resource base for the chemical company Petkim Holding. It will contribute significantly to the region and country's economy by creating job opportunities and increasing competitiveness.