Turkey’s STAR refining complex receives first crude shipment

STAR Rafineri AS, Istanbul, a subsidiary of SOCAR Turkey Energy AS—the Turkish arm of State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic—has received the first 80,000-tonne cargo of crude oil for processing at its soon-to-be fully commissioned 10 million-tonne/year SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR) under construction in Izmir, Aliaga, Turkey (OGJ Online, Dec. 14, 2010).

The shipment of Azerbaijani Azeri Light crude arrived at the refinery on Aug. 3, SOCAR Turkey said in a series of posts to its social media account.

The $6.3-billion project, which has already initiated preliminary commissioning activities, is scheduled to begin full operations during this year’s fourth quarter, SOCAR Turkey said.

On Jan. 26, Petkim Petrokimya Holding AS (Petkim)—operator of a petrochemical complex with which the new refinery will be integrated—carried out a $500 million bond to become an indirect shareholder of an 18% stake in the STAR refinery, Petkim said in a May 4 release.

SOCAR Turkey owns 51% of Petkim.

Project overview

The STAR refining complex will include a 66,000-b/d hydrocracker, a 40,000-b/d delayed coker, a 28,000-b/d continuous catalytic regeneration reformer, as well as hydrotreating capacities of 20,000 b/d for naphtha, 26,000 b/d for kerosine, and 68,000 b/d for diesel (OGJ Online, Nov. 30, 2015; Jan 28, 2014).

The integrated refining and petrochemical complex—which secured financing in 2014—is under construction by a consortium of Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas SA, Italy’s Saipem SPA, South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction Corp., and Japan’s Itochu Corp. (OGJ Online, Dec. 16, 2014; May 30, 2014).

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].