Are Saudis becoming a partner in $ 10 billion project in Hatay?
The energy agreement signed in Saudi Arabia, the first stop of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Gulf tour, caused eyes to be turned to Hatay. The Wealth Fund of Turkey is preparing to establish a refinery and petrochemical plant in Dörtyol district with an investment of 10 billion dollars. The project, which has been on the agenda since 2019, was approved by the EIA (ÇED, environmental impact assessment report) last March.
Within the scope of President Tayyip Erdogan’s Middle East trip, agreements were signed between the Republic of Turkey and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the fields of direct investment, defense industry, energy, defense and communications Dec.
The Memorandum of Understanding on Energy between the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey and the Ministry of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was signed by Alparslan Bayraktar, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and Prince Abdul Deciz bin Salman Al Saud, Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia.
EIA (ÇED) APPROVAL WAS OBTAINED BEFORE THE ELECTION
The cooperation reached in the energy field caused the eyes to be turned to Hatay. Because, the Turkish Wealth Fund (TVF) has been carrying out studies since last year to establish a refinery and petrochemical plant in Dörtyol district with an investment of approximately 10 billion dollars.
TVF Refinery and Petrochemical Industry and Trade INC, established by the Wealth Fund in 2020, applied for an Environmental Impact Assessment for the construction of the refinery last year, and the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change issued an “EIA positive” decision in March 2023.
THE NAME OF THE PROJECT WILL BE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
The project with a capacity of 9 million tons / year, which will be established in order to reduce the foreign trade deficit in the field of petro-chemistry and refining, will be located within the boundaries of the Yeniyurt and Yeşilköy neighborhoods of Dörtyol.
According to the EIA report, the name of the project will be the Eastern Mediterranean Petrochemical Plant.
Approximately 10 thousand people are expected to work during the land preparation and construction phase of the project (maximum 15 thousand people during the intensive period of construction work), and 2 thousand people during the operation phase. The construction period of the project is planned to be 78 months, including preliminary engineering, and the operational period is planned to be 49 years.
EMPHASIS ON EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE
The report said, “In the petrochemical sector, about 10% of the domestic demand for plastic raw materials is also met from domestic production. The rubber sector, on the other hand, is 100% dependent on foreign countries in terms of raw materials. It is estimated that one of the most important steps to be taken in order to realize production-based growth in our country and improve the foreign trade balance is to make petrochemical investments. Making these investments is of great importance in terms of ensuring supply security in domestic production, creating added value in the petrochemical sector and reducing the import dependence of the sectors fed from the petrochemical sector.”
