IOC plans $5 billion refinery in Turkey
Mumbai   05-Feb-2011

IndianOil (IOC) is interested in building a $5 billion refinery in Turkey and is currently carrying out feasibility work on the project, minister of state for trade Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday.

IOC and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) are interested in exploring for oil and natural gas in Turkey, Scindia also told reporters.

IOC "is looking at setting up a 15 million tonne refinery company in Turkey," Scindia said, referring to the volume of crude oil a facility could process in a year. "They are evaluating the feasibility of this."

The Delhi-based company had previously planned to build a refinery with Turkey's Calik Holding at the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, where pipelines carrying Iraqi and Azeri crude terminate.

Plans for that plant were put on hold during the global financial crisis in 2008, and Scindia did not say whether IOC would partner again with Calik. India imports about 70% of its oil and gas and is interested in exploring for new sources, Scindia said.

Turkey has tiny amounts of gas and oil reserves, requiring it to import about 95% of the fuels.But the government has agreed in recent years with US-based Chevron and Brazilian state oil company Petrobras to look for gas off its Black Sea coast.