MOSCOW (MRC) -- Work is underway to build a new petrochemical plant for BP and Socar Turkey in Aliaga city in Izmir Province, Chief External Affairs Officer at SOCAR Turkey Energy Murat LeCompte said in an interview with Trend.
The chief external affairs officer reminded that an agreement on the construction of a new petrochemical plant was signed between SOCAR and BP in late 2018.
"According to the agreement, both companies, each with a 50-percent-share in the new project, decided to launch its implementation," LeCompte said. "The preliminary engineering and design work has been carried out since the moment of the signing of the agreement. Today, these operations are underway. The operations are planned to be completed till late 2019."
"The work on the territory will begin in 2020," the chief external affairs officer said. "Afterwards, other work, including the preparation of a production sharing agreement, will be carried out. Then financing issue must be resolved."
"In particular, the issue of financing through the company's own funds or a loan will be discussed," LeCompte said. "The exact amount of investments in the project is unknown. This issue will be resolved next year after the final decision on investments is made."
"The amount worth USD1.8 billion was voiced during the preliminary discussions," the chief external affairs officer said. "This figure may increase or decrease while making the final decision."
"If the final investment decision can be made in 2020, then the foundation of the future plant will be laid that year," LeCompte said. "Proceeding from the fact that the construction will last for 3-4 years, the plant can be put into operation in 2023-2024."
The chief external affairs officer added that the new petrochemical plant will bring great benefits.
"This project is important not only for SOCAR and BP, but also for Turkey," LeCompte added. "Presently, Turkey imports 80 percent of the petrochemical products, spending USD11.5 billion a year. After putting a new plant into operation, this figure may be reduced to USD5.5 billion. Therefore, this project will make a great contribution to the Turkish economy."
As MRC reported earlier, BP Plc is expected to resume operation at its small gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at its 430,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery in late October after about a month of the overhaul. The company began a planned overhaul of the small FCCU on 19 September.
PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.
According to MRC's DataScope report, Chinese bottle grade PET deliveries to Russia increased 34% in the first eight months of 2019 to 95,600 tonnes. China accounted for 90% of the total imports, compared to 85% a year earlier.
August imports of material from China decreased by 41% to 7,600 tonnes from 12,800 tonnes in July. Jiangsu Sanfangxiang, Yisheng, Wankai and Sinopec were the leading Chinese suppliersof material to the Russian market.
SOCAR, which is keen on expanding operations in the retail oil products market abroad, is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in the domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.
MRC