Foster Wheeler wins PMC work in Turkey for new grassroots refinery

Foster Wheeler was awarded a contract by STAR Rafineri A.Ş., a subsidiary of SOCAR Turkey, for project management consultancy (PMC) services for its grassroots Aegean refinery to be built within the Petkim Petrokimya A.Ş. (PETKİM) facilities at Aliağa, Turkey.

Foster Wheeler's contract value was not disclosed and was included in the company's third-quarter 2013 bookings, according to company officials.

Foster Wheeler executed the front-end engineering design (FEED) for the entire refinery and also provided the license and basic design package for the delayed coker, which will use Foster Wheeler’s leading SYDEC delayed coking technology.

“Having successfully delivered a high quality FEED, we are very pleased to continue to play a key role in this strategic investment in Turkey,” said Roberto Penno, CEO of Foster Wheeler’s global engineering and construction business. 

“We believe that our proven project management and refining capabilities, our experience in executing mega-projects, and our long-established operation in Turkey were all instrumental in our success in winning this contract," he added.

The new refinery is designed to process a range of different crude oils, including Urals, Azeri Light and Kirkuk, with a processing capacity of 10 million tpy of crude oil. 

It is expected to start operations in 2017 and to produce a range of products including jet fuel, diesel, naphtha, petroleum coke and liquid petroleum gases.

“This refinery will significantly reduce Turkey’s dependence on imports of many petroleum derivatives, and so it is a strategically important investment,“ said Kenan Yavuz, CEO of SOCAR Turkey. “Foster Wheeler’s project management and project execution expertise is well-known, and we are confident that the Foster Wheeler team will make a valuable contribution to the success of this mega-project.”