Socar Türkiye invests $18 bln in 15 years

İZMİR

Energy company Socar Türkiye’s investments in Türkiye has amounted to a total of $18 billion over the past 15 years, company executives have said.

The company’s Star Refinery meets around 25 percent of Türkiye’s need for processed crude oil products, said Elchin Ibadov, the acting CEO of Socar Türkiye, adding that Petkim, on the other hand, provides some 12 percent of the petrochemicals need of the country.

The company has invested $1.8 billion in Petkim, Türkiye’s first and only integrated petrochemical company, said Anar Mammadov, the head of refinery and petrochemicals business unit.

“Petkim with annual 3.6 million tons of capacity produces around 60 petrochemical products. The integration with Star Refinery boosted Petkim’s productivity,” he added.

Petkim posted an all-time-high profit of 6.5 billion Turkish Liras last year, according to Mammadov. “Our sales grew 70 percent in 2022 compared with 2021.”

Socar Türkiye’s Aliağa facilities in the western province of İzmir have an annual crude oil processing capacity of 11 million tons, which help Türkiye reduce its current account deficit by $1 billion.

Some 17 wind turbines generate 51 megawatts of energy.

The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP) is one of the most important steps taken by Türkiye and Azerbaijan in the energy field, said Ibadov.

“TANAP, which was inaugurated in 2018, is a crucial strategic step as it diversifies natural gas supplies for both Türkiye and Europe,” he added.

Between June 2018 and March 31 this year, TANAP transferred more than 21 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Türkiye and around 22.4 billion cubic meters of gas for Europe from Dec. 31, 2021, to March 31, 2022, Ibadov said.