“Initial consumption (of oil) will be 100,000 barrels per day with a further increase to 215,000 bpd,” he said.

“SOCAR Trading will supply oil (to STAR) from different producers at ports in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Persian Gulf, as well as from Russian company Rosneft.”

He said the company had secured contracts to buy А-92 grade gasoline from producers in Russia, Switzerland and Turkmenistan due to planned maintenance at Heydar Aliyev oil refinery in Baku.

Ahmadzade said oil was still “playing a central role” in the firm’s trading strategy, having a 50 percent share in its portfolio.

He noted that the company had decided to reduce the share of fuel oil - recently at 30 percent - in its trading portfolio.

“The strategic decision has been made, but it will start to reflect on figures in 2019,” he said.

Ahmadzade said SOCAR Trading was open to discussions on obtaining crude from Russia’s Filanovsky and Rakushechnoye oilfields in the Caspian Sea operated by Russian company Lukoil , with shipment via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

“We are ready for dialogue on these oilfields and don’t see any problems from a technical viewpoint on getting these oil flows,” he said.

Ahmadzade said the company would soon start selling polypropylene and low-pressure polyethylene from SOCAR’s polymer plant, which started operating in August.

The opening ceremony of the Star oil refinery took place on October 19 in Izmir, Turkey, with the participation of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The total refining capacity of the refinery will be 10 million tons, and Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR is the main supplier of crude for the refinery. The refinery will significantly reduce the dependence of Turkey on imports of petrochemical products.

The refinery worth $6.3 billion, built by SOCAR in the Aliaga District of Izmir, will produce 1.6 million tons of naphtha, 1.6 million tons of aviation fuel, 4.8 million tons of low-sulfur diesel, 700,000 tons of petroleum coke, 420,000 tons of mixed xylene and 160,000 tons of sulfur.

SOCAR Trading, headquartered in Geneva, was established in late 2007 by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan.

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