The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) plans to invest approximately $120 million (around 6 billion Turkish liras) in a new aviation fuel production unit at its STAR refinery in Türkiye.

The refinery has moved into the engineering, procurement and construction phase of the project, which will introduce a new Jet Fuel (Kero-Merox) unit for aviation kerosene production, according to SOCAR Türkiye.

Kenan Mirzayev, head of SOCAR Türkiye's refining and petrochemicals business division and CEO of Petkim Petrokimya Holding, said the investment would also provide additional annual diesel production capacity of approximately 600,000 tonnes.

"With this investment of around 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 tonnes annually. This will allow us to manage aviation kerosene and diesel production more flexibly in response to market conditions," Mirzayev said.

The project is expected to improve the refinery's operational flexibility and energy efficiency while reducing Türkiye's reliance on imported diesel fuel.

Once the new unit becomes operational, the refinery's existing KHT (Kerosene Hydrotreater) facility will be converted to diesel production. However, it will retain the ability to resume aviation fuel production if necessary.

Mirzayev said that an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract has already been signed with an international consortium.

Engineering, procurement and construction activities are expected to begin in the coming days, while the new Jet Fuel (Kero-Merox) unit is scheduled to become operational in the first quarter of 2029.

The project will bring SOCAR's total investment in Türkiye to approximately $20 billion.

Meanwhile, the STAR refinery, which began operations in 2018, has increased its annual processing capacity from its initial 10 million tonnes to 13 million tonnes, making it Türkiye's largest single oil refinery, Mirzayev noted.