BP and SOCAR Turkey have entered into a licensing agreement for BP’s latest generation purified terephthalic acid (PTA) technology, the British company announced on Tuesday.
SOCAR Turkey intends to deploy the technology in its new 900,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) unit at Aliaga in Turkey's western city of Izmir, BP said, adding that the unit is expected to come onstream by 2023 once the final investment decision is taken.
The biggest investment in Turkey of the Azerbaijan state oil company SOCAR, the Star Refinery, will become operational later this year. The facility is Turkey's first private sector refinery that has seen expenditure of over $3.7 billion so far.
Turkey intends to construct a new aromatics unit to produce a paraxylene (PX) unit adjacent to the newly constructed STAR refinery.
“This investment is highly strategic for us, fulfilling our intent to create a value chain by integrating our newly-announced aromatics complex adjacent to the STAR refinery and PETKİM plant in Aliaga with the most competitive PTA technology," Emil Eminov, SOCAR Turkey chief operating officer, was quoted as saying.
"This will create the most competitive asset in Turkey and the Middle East and will serve the high demand for PTA in Turkey and surrounding regions,” he continued.
PTA is the primary feedstock for polyesters used in the textile and packaging industry. BP’s global petrochemicals business had a total capacity in 2016 of 18.6 million tpa including 6.2 million tpa of PTA production.
BP's PTA technology has significantly lower capital and operating costs, more energy efficient, uses less water and produces less solid waste than similar technologies on the market, the company said.
“We are proud to build on BP’s long-standing relationship with SOCAR Turkey to license and deploy this technology into their facility in Turkey. This is a testimony to the advantages of BP’s technology,” BP Petrochemicals’ Chief Operating Officer Rita Griffin said.
By Ebru Sengul
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
