Baku. 12 October. REPORT.AZ/The opening ceremony of the STAR Oil Refinery of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) will be held in Aliagha, Izmir, Turkey on October 19, Director General of the Star Refinery A.S. Mesut Ilter told Anadolu agency, Report informs.
He reminded that the refinery is testing production. Ilter said the refinery will start operating at full capacity (10 million tonnes per year) from January 2019: "STAR will meet the needs of Petkim petrochemical complex for naphta, reformat and mixed xylene. Along with meeting Petkim’s demand, the plant will contribute to Turkey’s economy by producing such strategically important oil products as diesel, aircraft fuel, LPG. Consumption of diesel fuel in Turkey increases 7-8% per year. The country produced 10.5 million tonnes of diesel last year, but the demand made 24 million tonnes. 13 million tonnes of the demand was met through import, that’s 56% of diesel fuel was imported last year. STAR Refinery will produce 5 million tonnes of diesel, which will reduce the import below 40%."
The Director General noted that STAR will fully meet Turkey’s demand for aircraft fuel: "Consumption of aircraft fuel is expected to increase quickly due to the launch of the new Airport in Istanbul and increase in tourism sector. STAR will fully meet Turkey’s demand for aircraft by producing 1.6 million tonnes of aircraft fuel per year. Turkey consumes 3.7 million tonnes of LPG, of which 80% is imported. Once STAR is launched, the import will fall to 70%. Taking these into account, STAR is expected to reduce Turkey's current deficit in foreign trade balance by $1.5 billion. This the least sum. I think this sum will increase depending on the oil price."
Ilter stressed that launch of the plant amid declining investments is an indicator of confidence of SOCAR and Azerbaijan in Turkey’s economy.
The foundation of the STAR Oil Refinery was laid down by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 25, 2011.
STAR has the first Strategic Investment Promotion Document of Turkey. After starting operation, the refinery will produce 1.6 million tonnes of naphtha, 5 million tonnes of diesel, 1.6 million tonnes of aircraft fuel, 300,000 tonnes of LPG, 160,000 tonnes of sulfur and other products.
In August, the Absheron tanker delivered 80,000 tonnes of AzeriLight crude oil to STAR. The total investment cost of the plant is $6.3 billion.