BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 29. Petkim, the
Turkish petrochemical company owned by Azerbaijan’s SOCAR, has
launched work under its Master Plan project, which envisages new
production facilities for ethylene, polypropylene and polyethylene,
the company said on its website.


The company has officially started Front-End Engineering Design
(FEED) studies under the project and signed FEED, licensing and
engineering agreements with leading international technology
licensors and engineering companies. Petkim allocated $70 million
for the FEED studies, which are expected to be completed by the end
of 2027 and are intended to form the basis for a potential final
investment decision.


Under the Master Plan, Petkim aims to increase its ethylene and
polypropylene production capacities, while more than doubling its
total polymer production capacity from current levels. Following
the Memorandum of Understanding signed between SOCAR and Technip
Energies in July, Petkim and Technip Energies signed a FEED
agreement as well as a licensing agreement covering Mixed Feed
Steam Cracker (MFSC) technology. The FEED phase, which follows the
pre-FEED studies, will include a detailed assessment of the
project’s scope as well as its technical, commercial and economic
parameters.


As part of the Master Plan, Petkim also signed a licensing
agreement with Univation Technologies, LLC for the polyethylene
unit under consideration. A licensing and engineering agreement was
signed with Lummus Novolen Technology GmbH for the polypropylene
unit.


Technip Energies also signed a licensing agreement with Petkim
for MFSC technology. According to the company, the agreements mark
an important stage in the contractual processes related to the
various production units and technologies being evaluated under the
Master Plan.


Petkim targets significant increase in production
capacity


Following completion of the FEED studies, and subject to a final
investment decision, Petkim plans to increase its annual ethylene
production capacity from 588,000 tons to 1.2 million tons. Its
annual polypropylene capacity is planned to rise from 145,000 tons
to 550,000 tons.







With the new units and capacity expansions being evaluated under
the Master Plan, Petkim’s total polymer production is also expected
to increase to more than twice its current level.


Petkim General Manager and SOCAR Türkiye Refining and
Petrochemicals Business Unit President Kanan Mirzayev said the
signing of the FEED agreement with Technip Energies following the
July MoU represents a concrete step showing that the project is
progressing as planned.


“During the FEED phase, we will evaluate the technical and
commercial parameters of the project in greater detail and carry
out the engineering studies that will form the basis for the final
investment decision. At the same time, the signing of licensing and
engineering agreements for polyethylene, polypropylene and MFSC
technologies demonstrates that we have made significant progress
across different components of the project. We have allocated a
total of $70 million for the FEED process. We see this as an
investment in Petkim’s future.


If the investments evaluated under the Master Plan are
implemented following the completion of the FEED studies and a
potential final investment decision, we aim to significantly
increase our ethylene and polypropylene capacities and more than
double our total polymer production from its current level. We view
our Master Plan project as a strategic transformation project that
will address Türkiye’s long-term needs in the petrochemical sector
while supporting Petkim’s competitiveness and sustainability. We
believe that the steps taken at this stage will contribute to
Petkim’s future and the development of Türkiye’s petrochemical
ecosystem,” Mirzayev said.


The Master Plan is also aimed at supporting the long-term
sustainability of Petkim’s existing production infrastructure,
developing its production capacity and technological
infrastructure, and further strengthening the integration between
refining and petrochemicals.


Petkim said an assessment regarding the final investment
decision under the Master Plan will be conducted after completion
of the FEED studies.