Turkish oil refiner Tupras inaugurated a $3.0 billion (2.4 billion
euro) fuel oil conversion facility at its refinery in the western Turkish city
of Izmit, the company said on Monday.
The facility, known as the residium
upgrade project (RUP), will upgrade low value added oil products to high value
added products such as white products including diesel, fuel-oil, jet fuel and
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). It is the largest single industrial investment in
Turkey to date, the company said in a statement.
The RUP facility will
have the capacity to annually process 4.2 million tonnes of low value added
products from the four refineries of Tupras and produce 2.9 million tonnes of
diesel, 3.5 million tonnes of other products with high added value such as LPG
and benzene, and 700,000 tonnes of petroleum coke.
RUP will also reduce
Turkey’s foreign trade deficit by $1.0 billion and create 500 permanent jobs,
according to Tupras.
With the facility, Tupras will double its diesel
production to 10 million-11 million tonnes, raise its jet fuel and gasoline
output by 25%-30% and reduce its fuel oil production by 90%, news agency Anadolu
Ajansi said, citing the company’s CEO Yavuz Erkut.
Operating four
refineries with combined annual capacity of 28.1 million tonnes, Tupras is the
seventh largest oil refiner in Europe and the 28th largest globally. The company
is competing with 53 refineries in the Mediterranean and 18 refineries in the
Black Sea region.