Production at Turkey's second petrochemical facility PETKIM in the Aliaga Peninsula of Izmir will start in late 2022 or at the beginning of 2023, according to SOCAR Turkey's CEO, Zaur Gahramanov, on Monday.
Gahramanov told Anadolu Agency the facility will produce jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and diesel fuel, while contributing to a reduction in Turkey's current account deficit. "After finalizing feasibility studies for the second facility in April 2019, we are planning to start works next June and to meet 40 percent of petrochemicals imports with this new facility," he said.
The STAR Refinery started operations of its first facility on Friday. For the operation start, the refinery's first crude oil cargo ship named Absheron was loaded with 80,000 tons of feedstock and arrived from Azerbaijan at the refinery facility located on a 2,400-hectare site on the Aliaga Peninsula.
Gahramanov confirmed the arrival of the first shipment, and said production would start at the end of October. He also announced that a launch ceremony for the refinery would be held with the attendance of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
Turkey’s first petrochemical facility PETKIM will produce 3.6 million tonnes of petrochemical products annually, while the second facility will focus on the refining of urgently needed petrochemical products, according to SOCAR Turkey's CEO Gahramanov.
He also highlighted that Turkey’s annual foreign trade deficit would decrease by around $1.5 billion with the launch of the STAR Refinery.
The STAR Refinery is SOCAR Turkey's biggest investment in the country at a cost of $6.3 billion. Parent company SOCAR has invested $19 billion in Turkey to date.
(Anadolu Agency)
