The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) plans to invest approximately $120 million (around 6 billion Turkish liras) in the construction of a new unit for aviation kerosene production at the STAR Oil Refinery in Türkiye.
According to Report, citing SOCAR Türkiye, STAR Refinery has moved on to the design, procurement, and construction phase of a new unit for aviation fuel production.
“Under this capital investment program, worth approximately 6 billion liras, we will transfer aviation fuel production to the new Jet Fuel (Kero-Merox) unit and provide additional diesel production capacity of approximately 600,000 tons annually. This will allow us to manage aviation kerosene and diesel production more flexibly, taking market conditions into account,” said Kanan Mirzayev, head of SOCAR Türkiye’s Refining and Petrochemicals Business Unit and CEO of Türkiye’s Petkim Petrokimya Holding.
The project is expected to increase the refinery’s operational flexibility and energy efficiency, while also reducing Türkiye’s dependence on imported diesel supplies.
The existing KHT (Kerosene Hydrotreater) unit at STAR Refinery will be redirected towards diesel production once the new Jet Fuel (Kero-Merox) unit becomes operational. At the same time, the KHT unit will retain the capability to resume aviation kerosene production if necessary.
“An EPC contract has been signed with an international consortium of companies for this project. Engineering, procurement, construction, and installation works will begin in the coming days, while the new Jet Fuel (Kero-Merox) unit is scheduled to become operational in the first quarter of 2029. This project will bring SOCAR’s total investments in Türkiye to $20 billion,” Mirzayev emphasized.
He added that since STAR Refinery was commissioned in 2018, its processing capacity has increased from an initial 10 million tons to 13 million tons annually.
“As a result, STAR has become Türkiye’s largest single-site oil refinery,” he said.