SOCAR to Create Another Big Petrochemical Complex in Turkey

SOCAR Turkey Enerji A.S., a subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR in Turkey, is working on a project to create a new chemical enterprise in Turkey, Head of SOCAR Turkey Enerji Zaur Gahramanov told Trend.

According to Gahramanov, most likely, it will be a joint venture.

"These investments are big enough, so we can’t invest it ourselves. Therefore, we are looking for partners who have experience in this industry," he noted. "We have some experience with Petkim, and today we are carrying out the engineering work."

A meeting was held on this issue with the Turkish government in Ankara and Turkey fully supports all projects of the company, added Gahramanov.

He noted that SOCAR Turkey Enerji regularly holds negotiations with big partners.

Particularly, the company also discusses the chemical complex project with Saudi Aramco, which is one of the biggest companies in the world, according to him.

Meanwhile, negotiations are underway with Chinese and American companies, said Gahramanov adding that they are talking mainly about technologies.

According to him, as part of new technical solution on the new petrochemical complex, SOCAR Turkey Enerji also discussed the rubber production with the Turkish government.

"This material is actively used by manufacturers of automobile tires. Tire manufacturers discussed this issue with the Turkish government and spoke about the necessity to localize the full production cycle in Turkey," said Gahramanov. "The government agreed with this, and we will most likely take this factor into account in the new decision. I think that it will be possible to give some specific figures at the end of this year."

About $11 billion of Turkey’s negative trade balance accounts for the petrochemical sector, he noted, adding that therefore, the Turkish government is interested in the construction of the new complex.

Meanwhile, Turkish media outlets quoted Vagif Aliyev, chairman of Board of Directors at SOCAR Turkey Enerji, as saying that the amount of investments for building a new petrochemical complex may total about $3 billion.

It is expected that in 2018, the consolidated turnover of SOCAR Turkey Enerji will reach $15 billion and the company will become the second biggest industrial company in Turkey with 5,000 employees and export potential of $3 billion. It sets a goal to become the biggest industrial company of Turkey by 2023.