Azerbaijan's State Oil Company redirects supplies of jet fuel from STAR refinery to Turkish domestic market
SOCAR Turkiye Enerji (the Turkish subsidiary of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic, SOCAR) has been fully directing the jet fuel produced at the STAR refinery to the Turkish domestic market in recent months amid the global energy crisis and tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, the company's president Elchin Ibadov said.
"Thanks to a number of engineering solutions and additional investments, we have managed to increase the capacity of our STAR oil refinery from the initial 10 million tons to 13 million tons per year. Currently, the facility continues to operate at full capacity. We are directing our products, primarily jet fuel in significant amounts, and in recent months - in the full amount - to the Turkish domestic market," Ibadov said in an interview with the Turkish TV channel CNN Turk.
Ensuring the reliability of supply for Turkey is a priority for the company, despite the existence of more profitable export offers, he said.
"In the jet fuel, diesel fuel and other petroleum products segments, we are ready to make any concessions to provide the domestic market with the necessary resources," he said.
The STAR refinery also ensures high utilization of petrochemical production, Ibadov said. "In parallel, we also supply the petrochemical sector, since the STAR refinery operating at full capacity implies high utilization of petrochemical production. That is where the raw materials come from. And in this area, we continue to work without any disruptions to production," he said.
However, he acknowledged that certain difficulties remain in providing raw materials, especially oil, primarily due to the price factor.
"As the cost of oil increases due to the geopolitical situation, there is a significant rise in prices for jet fuel and diesel. If this dynamic continues, after some time, companies using fuels and lubricants, petroleum products and petrochemical products as raw materials for their own production may face difficulties in purchasing them," he said.
At the same time, Ibadov said that the company does not expect serious disruptions in the supply of petroleum products in Turkey in the foreseeable future. "Market and forecast reports show that no significant difficulties are expected in the near future. Our task as producers is to operate at full capacity, prioritize the domestic market when distributing products, and maintain the reliability of supply. We are trying to do everything possible," he said.
SOCAR, after the privatization of Turkey's largest petrochemical complex Petkim, has additionally allocated around $1.7 billion for the modernization and expansion of the facility's capacities, he said.
"Taking into account the approximately $2 billion spent on the privatization of Petkim, the total investment in the Petkim complex amounted to $3.7 billion," he said.
SOCAR Turkiye Enerji is the owner of a controlling stake (51%) in Petkim Petrokimya Holding. The company has also built the STAR refinery, a container terminal and a power plant in Turkey, supplies gas to the domestic market and petroleum products to aircraft refueling points at airports in several major Turkish cities.
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