Azerbaijani oil company Socar is – reportedly – considering branching into the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), currently the main driver towards a more climate friendly and net zero aviation industry.
The State-owned company – Socar stands for the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic – is rumoured to be looking at producing SAF from its refinery in Türkiye, in the western port city of Aliağa, which is close to Izmir.
“We anticipate a growing demand for biofuels in the oil refining sector and we are currently working on a related project, which is for the production of SAF,” Kenan Mirzayev, Head of Socar Turkey’s Oil Refining and Petrochemical Unit, was quoted as saying by Azerbaijani media.
“The project is in the technical assessment phase, and we believe it will be the biggest transformation at the refinery. We have already started working on this project.”
Turkish Airlines recently started purchasing SAF stocks from energy supplier Neste, while Turkish refiner Tupras has announced plans to start making SAF at its Izmir plant.
