SOCAR’s STAR refinery meets 25% of Türkiye's demand for oil products

The oil products produced at the STAR Refinery meet approximately 25% of Türkiye's demand, according to the CEO of SOCAR Türkiye, Elchin Ibadov.

The STAR refinery built by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) on the Aliaga Peninsula of Izmir produces 11 million tons of crude oil and refined products, Ibadov told in an interview with Report on April 26.

“We are proud to contribute nearly $1 billion to Türkiye's current account deficit every year as we significantly reduce the market's external dependence,” he added.

Ibadov noted that oil refineries have a standard capacity utilization rate, and added “but with effective planning, value creation initiatives, and high-level engineering solutions, it is possible to produce beyond the plant's capacity without any additional investment. For example, we have a standard capacity of 10 million tons, but we have been able to produce 11.3 million tons.”

He also said that Azerbaijan delivered 98.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Türkiye, and SOCAR Türkiye, has transported approximately 9.3 billion cubic meters of gas so far

Ibadov said that SOCAR Türkiye is one of the largest private sector players in the wholesale market of Türkiye, and added "in 2022, the total trade and sales volume of natural gas and electricity reached 17 terawatts/hour, and the turnover was 28 billion Turkish liras ($1.5 billion)."

He said that TANAP is one of the projects that contribute the most to Türkiye's goals of becoming an energy corridor and the works related to the expansion of this pipeline and the transportation of more natural gas to Europe through Türkiye in the future are ongoing. He stated that these works create great opportunities for Türkiye to become a natural gas hub and by 2023, the volume of natural gas transportation to Türkiye through TANAP will reach approximately 21 billion cubic meters and to Europe through Türkiye - 22 billion cubic meters.