Nicosia, Jan. 10: The Turkish government has given Calik Energy and the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) the green light to build a
300,000 barrels a day (b/d) refinery at the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

The joint venture expected to cost about $4.9 billion has received all the necessary licences for the refinery, which may at a later stage include a petrochemical unit.

Italian energy firm Eni and Kazakhstan's oil and gas company KazMunaiGaz will also participate in the project, which will be the fourth refinery planned to operate in the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

The Turkish government has declared its intention to turn Ceyhan into an international energy centre. For this reason it has given permission for the construction of another three refineries in the port.

The refineries will be built by Petrol Ofisi and OMV, which have a refining capacity of 200,000 b/d), the Cehavir Group (also with a refining capacity of 200,000 b/d) and the Socar/ Turcas refinery, which will process 200,000-400,000 b/d.

It should be noted that IOC, Calik and Eni are participating in a the Samsun-Ceyhan (Trans Anatolian) pipeline which will cover a distance of 550km and serve to transport Caspian and Russian crude to the Mediterranean, avoiding the over-crowded Bosphorus straits.

The crude oil pipeline, which is expected to cost over 1.5 billion dollars will have the capacity of transporting 1 million barrels of crude every day