A consortium comprised of Itochu Corp. (8001.TO) and foreign firms won an order from the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to build Turkey 's largest oil refinery in the western city of Izmir , the Nikkei reported in its Monday evening edition.

Itochu will procure equipment from Japanese plant manufacturers for the roughly Y350 billion ($3.4 billion) project, while the Japan Bank for International Cooperation will help SOCAR raise the necessary funds.

Other members of the consortium are Tecnicas Reunidas SA of
Spain , Saipem of Italy and GS Engineering and Construction of South Korea. They will sign the design, procurement and construction contract later Monday.

Itochu's portion of the project is worth about Y35 billion. Construction will begin in autumn, and the refinery is slated to begin operating in 2017.

The refinery will be owned and operated by SOCAR. It will have a refining capacity of 214,000 barrels of crude oil a day, lifting
Turkey 's refining capacity by more than 30%.

The addition of the plant to the area will create
Turkey 's largest chemical complex.