Ceyhan refinery: Turkish authority grants licence to IndianOil
New Delhi   15-Dec-2007
The uncertainty over IndianOil's proposed 15-million-tonne greenfield refinery in Turkey seems to be over. According to sources, the Energy Market Regulatory Authority of Turkey has finally granted licence to IndianOil-Calik Holding joint venture last week for setting up the refinery at the port city of Ceyhan. IndianOil-Calik along with two other consortiums was previously offered provisional licence for setting up the $4.9-billion refinery. While the IndianOil-led consortium was going great guns and was about to launch the feasibility study, strong oil-diplomacy between Turkey and its neighbouring Azerbaijan during the last three months made Indian major's entry into the Eurasian country uncertain. The balance apparently tilted in favour of a consortium led by Azeri state oil company SOCAR, so much so that IndianOil was expecting an end to its Turkey run. However, putting the speculations at rest, the Turkish authority finally granted the licence to IndianOil-Calik joint venture. <b>Uncertainties Removed</b> Describing the development as a major achievement for India's oil diplomats, a senior IndianOil official told Business Line: "The award of the licence has removed all uncertainties regarding our proposed investment in Turkey. We are now expecting to finalise the consortium by including more partners in the next two to three months followed by launch of the feasibility study."KazMunayGas, the state oil company of Kazakhstan, and ENI of Italy have already expressed interest to join the IndianOil - led consortium. <b>Stake in ENI Projects</b> Interestingly, the development will also' pave the way for IndianOil's 12.5 per cent participation in ENI promoted Trans . Anatolian Pipeline Project The pipeline will connect the Turkish Northern Black Sea city Samsun to Ceyhan and will feed the proposed IndianOil's refinery at Ceyhan. The company made its first attempt to enter the Turkey's refining sector in 2004 by participating in the disinvestments process of the state controlled Tupras Refinery. The attempt, however, did not succeed. Apart from Turkey, IndianOil is awaiting approval from Nigeria for the last two years for setting up a refinery in the Edo state. A recent attempt is made to enter the refining sector of Egypt.