The investment portfolio of Socar, Azerbaijan’s state-oil company, for Turkey will reach around $20 billion with the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), Socar Turkey head Kenan Yavuz said yesterday, noting that this was the official figure, during a press meeting at the 3rd Caspian Forum in Istanbul. “The new project, TANAP, with the leadership of Turkey and Azerbaijan will enable the two countries to meet energy resources and consumption points,” Yavuz said at the event organized by Istanbul-based think tank Caspian Strategy Institute (HASEN). He added that the TANAP would transform Turkey into an important energy transfer center. Yavuz added that Socar had an investment portfolio for Turkey of between $17 billion and $20 billion in the 2008-2018 period. As Socar’s Refinery Petrochemistry-Energy-Logistic Integration investments worth $9.5 billion in Petkim Peninsula in İzmir, TANAP will increase this amount to around $20 billion, he said. The TANAP is expected to cost between $8 billion and $10 billion, said Yavuz, noting that this was not the official figure.

Socar’s investments in petrochemicals, energy and logistics will also enable Turkey and Azerbaijan to produce oil and natural gas derivative intermediate goods, he added. Yavuz recalled that Socar was currently the biggest foreign direct investor in Turkey. Some $475 million was recently transferred to Turkey from Azerbaijan to finance the forthcoming expenditures in the STAR Refinery, the most important part of integration investments in the Petkim Peninsula. This is in addition to some $350 million worth of previous money transfers, which is the largest money transfer to have been spent as foreign direct investment in Turkey. The STAR Refinery is slated to come into operation by the middle of 2017, Yavuz added.

ANN.Az