SOCAR’s $6 bln oil refinery in Turkey to start up in third quarter of 2018

BAKU - Reuters

The first new oil refinery to be built in Turkey in 30 years will start up in the third quarter of 2018, the builder and operator Azeri state energy firm SOCAR said on Feb. 22.

The $6 billion Star refinery will supply feedstock to Turkish petrochemicals firm Petkim to help cut Turkey’s dependence on imported refined oil products. It will boost Turkish refining capacity by 30 percent.

The plant on Turkey’s Aegean coast would have capacity to process about 10 million tons per year (200,000 barrels per day) of crude, SOCAR Deputy Vice President Vitaly Baylarbayov told Reuters.

The plant is expected to produce 1.6 million tons of naphtha and 420,000 tons of xylenes. It will also produce about 4.8 million tons of diesel, alongside jet fuel, petroleum coke, reformate, sulphur and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Turkey produces a surplus of gasoline but relies on imports of diesel, with consumption of the fuel growing by about 7 percent a year and expected to reach 25 million tons in 2019.

Tüpraş, Turkey’s only refining firm, has four plants across the country with combined processing capacity of 28 million tons (560,000 bpd).