Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR will build a new jet fuel production unit at the STAR oil refinery in Turkey. The roughly $120 million (6 billion lira) project will push SOCAR’s total investment in the country to $20 billion.
SOCAR has moved ahead with a new unit called “Jet Fuel” (Kero-Merox) at the STAR oil refinery in Turkey, part of the company’s broader investment programme in the country, with design and procurement work now underway. Kenan Mirzeyev, who heads SOCAR Türkiye’s refining and petrochemicals division and also serves as chief executive of Petkim Petrokimya Holding, said the unit would add 600,000 tons of diesel fuel output a year once operational.
According to Mirzeyev, the new unit will let the refinery switch quickly between producing jet fuel and diesel depending on market demand. The existing Kerosene Hydrotreater (KHT) unit will shift mainly to diesel production once the new facility comes online, though it could revert to jet fuel output if needed.
Mirzeyev added that the move would make the plant more energy-efficient and reduce Turkey’s reliance on diesel imports. SOCAR Türkiye has signed an EPC contract with a consortium of international companies for the construction, with building and installation work set to begin shortly. The unit is expected to come online in the first quarter of 2029.
Refinery capacity has grown
The STAR refinery, operating since 2018, has raised its annual processing capacity from an initial 10 million tons to 13 million tons. Mirzeyev noted that this makes it Turkey’s largest single-unit oil refinery.
