STAR refinery to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in net gain for Azerbaijan: SOCAR
By Leman Mammadova
Star Oil Refinery built by the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR in Turkey will bring a net profit of hundreds of millions of dollars to Azerbaijan and SOCAR, the company told Trend.
"We are gradually conducting the commissioning process, while the refinery complex is expected to reach its full production capacity this year. This allows us to trespass from the project development stage to operations, coming to the edge, where the project starts generating revenues," said the company.
SOCAR said that the new refinery is focusing on the vast potential of Turkish market.
"It will help Turkey reduce its trade deficit, substituting a significant part of currently imported products with local production. STAR refinery will also generate hundreds of millions USD in net gain for Azerbaijan and SOCAR. The integration with SOCAR’s other facilities in the Aliaga peninsula, will also boost the efficiency of petrochemicals production. STAR will feed our petrochemical complex Petkim with naphtha, which was being imported from overseas up until now," said the state oil company.
The integration of feedstock supply, as well as the common use of some utilities and infrastructure will allow to reduce the annual expenses of Petkim by hundreds of millions dollars, according to SOCAR.
Star Oil Refinery will launch production of its first products in January. 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.
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. 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.
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.
Meanwhile, SOCAR will start construction of a new petrochemical complex in Turkey in 2019.
In December 2018, BP and SOCAR Turkey signed a document to evaluate the creation of a joint venture. The facility would produce 1.25 million tons per annum (tpa) of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), 840,000 tpa paraxylene (PX) and 340,000 tpa benzene. BP and SOCAR are expected to work towards a potential final investment decision in 2019, which can result in a start-up of the new plant in 2023.
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