SOCAR launches $120 million project in Türkiye

SOCAR plans to invest $120 million in the construction of a new facility for aviation fuel production at its STAR Oil Refinery in Türkiye.

According to TodayPress TV, Turkish media reported this, citing SOCAR Türkiye.

The report said that the engineering, procurement and construction phase of the new Jet Fuel (Kero-Merox) unit at the STAR Refinery is getting under way. Approximately 6 billion Turkish liras will be allocated to the project.

Kenan Mirzayev, head of SOCAR Türkiye’s Refining and Petrochemicals business division and CEO of Petkim Petrokimya Holding, said the new facility would allow the refinery to manage aviation kerosene and diesel production more flexibly in line with market demand. The project will create additional capacity to produce 600,000 tonnes of diesel fuel annually.

It was noted that once the new unit becomes operational, the refinery’s existing KHT unit will be dedicated to diesel production. At the same time, the option of resuming aviation kerosene production at that unit will be retained if necessary.

An EPC contract has been signed with an international consortium of companies for the project. Construction is expected to begin in the coming days, while the facility is scheduled to become operational in the first quarter of 2029.

According to Mirzayev, the project will bring SOCAR’s total investment in Türkiye to $20 billion.

It should be recalled that the STAR Refinery, commissioned in 2018, has increased its annual processing capacity from an initial 10 million tonnes to 13 million tonnes. It is currently Türkiye’s largest single-site oil refinery.