Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR is due to purchase crude oil from Iraq next month to process at its Star Refinery in Turkey, SOCAR Turkey CEO Zaur Gahramanov said, Trend reports citing London-based SHARQ AL-AWSAT newspaper.
Gahramanov said the refineries that rely on Iranian crude oil might face future problems due to US sanctions, and that his firm doesn’t wish to violate the sanctions by importing oil or exporting fuel to Tehran.
Gahramanov remarked that 1.5 million tons of crude oil has been processed at the Star Refinery so far, adding: "We plan to process 8 million tons of crude oil by the end of the year. As of next month, we will start buying Iraqi oil from the Arabian Gulf."