Star Refinery selected the best project of 2015

Baku. 16 December. REPORT.AZ/ The world-renowned Hydrocarbon Processing magazine announced the project of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) on the construction of the Star Refinery as the best project of the year.

Report was told in the press service of SOCAR, article published in the journal says that the best projects are selected based on an annual survey of readers.

'Once completed, STAR Refinery will be the largest petrochemical complex in Turkey with the inclusion of Petkim. According to the country’s Value-Site 2023 vision for the Petkim Peninsula, SOCAR Turkey will create the first Petrochemical Industrial Park in Turkey. Azerbaijani State Oil Company, SOCAR is building the $5.6-B SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR). One purpose of 10-MMtpy (214,000 BPD) crude capacity refinery is to provide naphtha feedstock to the Petkim petrochemical complex and other to market diesel and jet fuel in open market. Turkey currently imports these products. This additional feedstock is vital to help curb Turkey’s dependence on imports, as well as provide the local market with Euro 5-graded transportation fuels. The refinery will have the capability to process various crude oil feedstocks including Ural, Azeri Light, and Kirkuk. The plant will produce naphtha, LPG and mixed xylenes as raw material for the adjacent PETKIM petrochemical facilities and ultra-low-sulfur diesel and jet fuel/kerosine for both the domestic and international markets', article reads.

'The refinery is Turkey’s first private-sector refinery. Out of the total cost of $5.6 B, $3.29 B will be covered by project financing loans, whereas the remaining $2.4 B will come from SOCAR and MEI. The project has become the largest project financing transaction in Turkey and one of the largest oil and gas project financing transactions in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region. Financing for the project involved 23 financial institutions, including export credit agencies in 7 countries, international commercial banks, development banks and local commercial banks. This web of project financing has earned the project numerous accolades. This included “Best Project Financing of the Year” from Global Financial Conferences and “Refinery Financing Deal of the Year” from Project Finance International magazine', the article states.

Excavation works have been completed in the preparation phase of the refinery site, and major EPC and licensing contracts have been awarded. Foster Wheeler Italiana provided FEED and PMC services on the project. The facility is being developed by a consortium consisting of Tecnicas Reunidas, Saipem, GS E&C and ITOCHU. Technology providers include Axens, UOP, Foster Wheeler, Technip and Tecnimont KT.

Once completed in 1Q 2018, it will be the first refinery to start production in Turkey since 1984 and complete a major initiative of Turkey’s Refinery-Petrochemical-Energy-Logistics-Distribution program..