Economic Development in Azerbaijan

[XTQ1999]

Azerbaijani energy company SOCAR acquires EWE Turkey

Azeri state energy company SOCAR has decided to acquire the energy business of Germany’s EWE in Turkey, taking part in the natural gas distribution business in the country for the first time.


“Azerbaijan’s global trademark SOCAR has been selling a total of 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the Turkish market at wholesale since 2013. We have been involved in transporting natural gas coming from Azerbaijan with the TANAP [Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline] project which commenced last year. Through the acquisition of EWE Turkey, we have taken a strategic and commercially very important step to fulfill all the production-transportation-distribution cycle of natural gas in Turkey,” said SOCAR head Rövnag Abdullayev in a written statement on Jan. 30.


“The synergy created by this step will add value to the Turkish and Azerbaijani economies. We will continue to evaluate other opportunities in the market in the coming period,” he added.


The acquisition, whose total amount is not announced yet, will be finalized after approvals from the Competition Authority, the Energy Market Regulatory Market and the Information and Communications Technologies Authority.


Turkish gas distributor Palmet was also in talks to acquire the EWE Turkey. Palmet was ready to pay around 150 million euros ($170 million), a representative of the company told Reuters on Jan. 17.


EWE, the fourth-largest natural gas supplier in Turkey in terms of customers, includes Bursagaz and Kayserigaz, the gas distribution networks in the industrial cities of Bursa and Kayseri. It also includes the EWE Enerji and Enervis businesses, which are involved in energy trade and service, according to EWE’s annual report.


EWE Turkey’s annual consolidated turnover in 2017 was 2.4 billion Turkish Liras. The average lira/dollar rate was 3.65 in 2017.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/azeri-energy-company-socar-acquires-ewe-turkey-140893

 

[XTQ1999]

Silk Way Airlines orders another 4 Boeing 747-8Fs

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle...747-8f-airplane-cargo-queen-of-the-skies.html

 

[XTQ1999]

A lot of development has occurred within the last two months in Azerbaijani energy sector

BP Thinks It's Sitting on Another Giant Gas Field in the Caspian

BP Plc and its partners just spent $28 billion bringing a giant natural gas project in Azerbaijan online, and that may only be the start.

The British oil major intends to drill six new exploration wells in the country by 2020, according to Gary Jones, BP’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. If his expectations are met, the company could find a new gas play that’s about the same size as Shah Deniz, its project that produces the fuel from a field in the Caspian Sea that’s as large as Manhattan.

“Alongside Brazil, Azerbaijan stands out in terms of the areas of focus for the next few years,” Jones said in a phone interview. “It’s a very significant exploration program for us, which demonstrates the confidence and the role that we see in the Caspian.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ing-on-another-giant-gas-field-in-the-caspian

Construction of SOCAR, BP's petrochemical plant in Turkey to commence by 2020

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), the largest direct foreign investor in Turkey, and BP plan to start construction of a new petrochemical plant in Turkey at the end of 2020, according to SOCAR's Turkey Enerji project director. BP and SOCAR in late 2018 signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) to evaluate the formation of a joint venture to build and operate a world-class petrochemicals complex in Turkey. The investment cost of the SOCAR-BP joint project is expected to stand around $1.8 billion and the construction is expected to be completed by 2023. "A tender for the design of the complex has been announced and three companies are taking part in it ... Results will be announced next month," SOCAR's Turkey Enerji Project Director Emil Alkhasly told Reuters. Even though reports about the investment had hit the headlines recently, the exact date of the beginning of the construction was unknown.

It has been reported that the facility, to be located in Aliağa a district in İzmir province in Turkey's Aegean region, will produce 1.25 million tons per annum of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), 840,000 tons per annum of paraxylene (PX) and 340,000 tons per annum of benzene.

https://www.dailysabah.com/energy/2...ochemical-plant-in-turkey-to-commence-by-2020

BP Invests $6 Bln in Offshore Azerbaijan Project

The British multinational oil and gas company BP and its partners will lead a $6 billion development of the giant Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) oil-field complex offshore Azerbaijan.

The supermajor said that the Azeri Central East (ACE) project includes a new offshore platform and facilities designed to process up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day. The project is expected to achieve first production in 2023 and produce up to 300 million barrels over its lifetime.

The $6 billion sanction is the first major investment decision by the ACG partnership since the extension of the ACG production sharing agreement (PSA) to 2049 was agreed in 2017. More than $36 billion has been invested into the development of the ACG area since the original PSA was signed in 1994.

Rovnaq Abdullayev, president of SOCAR, said, “Today’s sanctioning marks yet another important milestone in the development of ACG for the benefit of the nation, which began 25 years ago with the signing of the Contract of the Century. For decades, SOCAR has been reinvesting Azerbaijan’s oil revenues in the development of a highly-qualified workforce and modern industrial facilities in our country."

Abdullayev added, "Today we have world-class factories, production and installation complexes, marine vessels and a highly-skilled local workforce, which have created opportunity for the construction and installation of the ACE platform by Azerbaijani specialists throughout the country. Looking forward, we expect more than three billion barrels of additional oil production from ACG. This strategic decision supports Azerbaijan’s increasing role as an energy supplier for the regional and global markets.”

BP chief executive Bob Dudley said, “Working together over the past 25 years, this remarkable partnership has turned these world-class assets into tremendous benefits for the people of Azerbaijan. The ACE extension builds on that legacy and helps ensure that the next quarter century will be just as bright.”

https://www.aogdigital.com/subsea/item/9249-bp-invests-6-bln-in-offshore-azerbaijan-project

SOCAR to establish $1.5 billion petrochemical R&D center in Turkey

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is establishing a petrochemical research and development (R&D) center in the Aliağa peninsula in the Aegean province of İzmir. SOCAR's new investment, which is said to cost about $1.5 billion, will be completed in late 2020.

Businesspeople from Azerbaijan, the largest foreign direct investor in Turkey with $26 billion, have once again turned their route to Turkey. Gathered under the invitation of Azerbaijani Businessmen Association (TAİB) Chairman Mehdi Nagiyev, the country's businesspeople said they aim to double this investment in the next few years. Nagiyev, on the other hand, stressed that approximately $5.5 billion of the $26 billion investment from Azerbaijan was carried out by the business circle.

Anar Mammadov, the general manager of SOCAR Turkey Real Estate and Administrative Construction, recalled that the company's investment in Turkey has reached about $15 billion to date.

"The total planned investment is around $20 billion. Therefore, we plan to invest the remaining amount in the next three to four years," he said.

Mammadov pointed to the ongoing oil and petrochemical R&D project realized in Aliağa, İzmir with an investment of $1.5 billion, adding they are currently in the project phase of the largest R&D center of the Aegean region.

https://www.dailysabah.com/energy/2...-15-billion-petrochemical-rd-center-in-turkey