Azeri state oil company SOCAR to invest $7 billion to Turkey

Azeri state company SOCAR announced that it would invest approximately $7 billion in the development of several new production facilities. The company has faced sharp criticism from pro-Palestinian groups, who assert that it supplies oil to Israel despite Turkey's trade ban.

Tuesday January 07 2025 09:57 am

Reuters

State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Turkey branch plans to spend around $7 billion on establishing several new polyolefin production facilities to expand capacity at its Petkim unit, Kanan Mirzayev, head of SOCAR Turkey's refining and petrochemicals division, said on Jan. 6.

"A detailed front-end engineering design (FEED) for the facilities will be prepared in 2025-2026, requiring around $50 million in initial investments," Mirzayev said.

The decision was approved at a December board meeting, and the project is expected to be implemented over the next five to 10 years, he added.

"Turkey imports up to 90% of its polyolefins. This initiative will reduce dependency on imports and boost SOCAR Turkey's revenues," Mirzayev said.

A final investment decision is expected by the end of 2026.

Petkim, founded nearly 60 years ago, became wholly owned by SOCAR in 2008 after the Azerbaijani energy firm acquired a controlling stake for $2.04 billion.

The unit operates 16 production plants and, in 2024, produced 2 million metric tons of petrochemicals, meeting 11% of Turkey's domestic demand.

SOCAR's turbulent existence in Turkey

Following heightened public outcry on Israel's genocide against Palestinians, the Trade Ministry announced that Turkey fully halted all trade with Israel. Nonetheless, several major companies operating in the country have been known to continue their ties with Israeli entities.

SOCAR has been providing petrol to Israel via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and several government officials met with the company representatives amid ongoing protests even though the government has been portraying itself as pro-Palestinian.

Several pro-Palestinian protestors have been detained during their protests against the SOCAR.

Topics SOCAR Azerbaijan Azerbaijan-Turkey Petkim Pro-Palestine