Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Turcas Petrol sold its entire 18.5-percent equity stake in the Star refinery of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR to Rafineri Holding A.S.

Rafineri Holding A.S. is fully owned by SOCAR Turkey Enerji A.S.

"Following the negotiations, the parties reached an agreement on the sale of this share for $59.39 million," the Turkish Company told Trend Agency on May 20. "The Star refinery construction project is strategic. But additional funds are required, because the funds necessary for the project implementation are $5.6 billion. This does not correspond to the company's revenue forecast, which is why it decided to sell its stake in the project."

The company also noted the volume of Turcas Petrol's investments in the refinery construction project has amounted to 116.3 million Turkish liras so far.

Currently, 60 percent share in the Star refinery is owned by Rafineri Holding A.S., and 40 percent - SOCAR.

SOCAR and a consortium of companies signed an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract in May 2013 to construct the Star refinery.

An alliance of Tecnicas Reunidas SA, Saipem SpA, GS Engineering & Construction Corp and Itochu companies won the tender for the refinery's construction.

With an annual capacity of 10 million tons, Star refinery will be capable of refining oil grades such as Azeri Light, Kirkuk, and Urals. The oil refinery is planned to be commissioned in 2018.

Some 16 billion cubic meters of gas will be produced in the Shah Deniz Stage 2 development and exported to energy markets. The figure will be increased by one billion cubic meters per year.

Estimated at $5.5 billion, the refinery is mostly intended to create a resource base for the chemical company Petkim Holding. It will contribute significantly to the region's and country's economy by creating job opportunities and increasing competitiveness.