Socar, Turkish firm partner for gas trade

ISTANBUL

The Turkish unit of Azerbaijani state-run energy company Socar and a local company have partnered to market and sell energy resources, including natural gas, in Turkey.

Socar Türkiye Enerji and the Turkish gas company Çığ Enerji, a joint company of Turkish businessmen Fatih Baltacı and Fettah Tamince, have established Socar Gaz Ticareti AŞ for the distribution of up to 800 million cubic meters of Azeri gas on the domestic market, Habertürk newspaper reported yesterday.

Some 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas imported from Azerbaijan was allocated to Petkim, a local petrochemical company controlled by Socar, according to a recently signed agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan. Some 400 million to 500 million cubic meters of the gas, which will be imported as of Jan. 1, will be used in Petkim facilities, while the rest will be sold in Turkey, the president of Socar Türkiye, Kemal Yavuz, recently said. Azerbaijani gas is considerably cheaper than the Russian and Iranian gas, which will make it easier to sell in the country. Per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, Turkey currently pays nearly $423 to Iran, $418 Russia and only $282 to Azerbaijan, the newspaper said. k HDN