SOCAR's oil refinery in Turkey to start up in Q3 2018

   

The $6 billion Star refinery will supply feedstock to Turkish petrochemicals firm Petkim to help cut Turkey's dependence on imported refined oil products. It will boost Turkish refining capacity by 30 percent.

   

The plant on Turkey's Aegean coast would have capacity to process about 10 million tonnes per year (200,000 barrels per day) of crude, SOCAR Deputy Vice President Vitaly Baylarbayov told Reuters. 

   

The plant is expected to produce 1.6 million tonnes of naphtha and 420,000 tonnes of xylenes. It will also produce about 4.8 million tonnes of diesel, alongside jet fuel, petroleum coke, reformate, sulphur and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

   

Turkey produces a surplus of gasoline but relies on imports of diesel, with consumption of the fuel growing by about 7 percent a year and expected to reach 25 million tonnes in 2019.

   

Tupras, Turkey's only refining firm, has four plants across the country with combined processing capacity of 28 million tonnes (560,000 bpd).