SOCAR Turkiye Energy estimates investments in new petrochemical facilities in Türkiye at $7 billion

SOCAR Turkiye Energy estimates investments in the creation of new petrochemical facilities in Türkiye at $7 billion, Kanan Mirzoyev, head of SOCAR Turkiye's refining and petrochemicals business unit, said at a press conference in Istanbul today, according to Report.

He reported that in 2025-2026, work will be carried out to prepare the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED), which will require about $50 million in investments.

Mirzoyev reported that this involves both increasing the capacity of existing enterprises and building new plants.

He also reported that over the past three years (2022-2024), a Master Plan was developed with the involvement of major sector companies - STORK, Wood Mackenzie, and KBR - to develop a roadmap for upgrading outdated Petkim complex plants.

Based on the collaboration with STORK, it was determined that significant investments in repairing existing Petkim plants would be needed over 3-7 years.

Joint work with Wood Mackenzie established that ethylene production and its polymerization have high potential. With KBR, a feasibility study for the Master Plan and technical work was prepared, which developed various investment scenarios for continuing petrochemical operations.

As a result of this work, construction of new ethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene production facilities is planned in Türkiye.

"We conducted market research and expect growth in Türkiye's polymer production sector. If an investment decision is made, by doubling our ethylene plant's capacity, we can achieve triple growth in the Turkish ethylene market. Detailed design will determine the exact investment volume and technical conditions of the project. Initial estimates value the project at approximately $7 billion," he said.

Mirzoyev added that preliminary design work (PreFEED) is already underway, and detailed design work, selection of licensors, and other technical work will begin in May-June 2025.

All these works will take 18 to 24 months. "If FEED is ready in December 2026, a final investment decision will be made on the project to move to the construction phase," said Mirzoyev.