BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.8
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
There are no changes in plans of Petkim petrochemical complex to acquire the share of Star Oil Refinery, said Head of the SOCAR Turkey Refinery and Petrochemicals Business Unit and General Manager of Petkim Anar Mammadov, Trend reports.
He told Bloomberg TV that the Petkim-Star integration may be completed in two or three years.
Mammadov went on to add that COVID-19 didn’t cause capacity decrease and the production figures for 2020 are close to those of 2019. “Our expectations regarding the balance sheet are not negative.”
He noted that this year they decreased exports and mainly focused on the domestic market.
“Petkim’s market share in 18 percent. Five such complexes are needed to cover Turkey’s demand. We also have a deficit in the diesel market after Star Refinery became operational. Turkey has to import 3-4 million tons of diesel per year. We support new investments in order to reduce the current account deficit and to strengthen domestic producers. "
Star Refinery, with investment value of $6.3 billion came on stream in October 2018. Around $3.3 billion of the project’s cost was covered by loans. The total investment in Star Refinery is expected to stand at $7 billion.
The annual processing capacity of Star Refinery is 10 million tons. It meets around 25 percent of Turkey’s refined oil products. The refinery is able to process 214,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Petkim is the first and the sole integrated petrochemical facility in Turkey. It is the largest exporter in the Aegean region. Petkim’s production capacity is 3.6 million tons per year. The petrochemical complex produces around 60 different types of products and exports to 78 countries. The complex meets about 20 percent of Turkey’s demand for petrochemical products.
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