Istanbul  (Platts)--29Jun2007

Turkey's energy market regulator Enerji Piyasasi Duzenleme Kurulu has
approved an application from petroleum distributor Petrol Ofisi to construct a
10 million mt/year capacity refinery near the oil port of Ceyhan, the Turkish
daily Milliyet reported Friday.

     This was Petrol Ofisi's second application to do the project. The EPDK
rejected a previous application earlier this month on the grounds that it was
uncomfortable with the country's biggest distributor also having direct
ownership of a refinery, and suggested it establish a separate company to own
and operate the refinery.

     Petrol Ofisi--which is 35% owned by Austria's OMV--established the new
company, Petrol Ofisi Akdeniz Rafinerisi Sanayi ve Ticaret, two weeks ago and
resubmitted its application for the project.

     Milliyet, which is owned by Dogan, a media conglomerate that holds a 60%
controlling stake in Petrol Ofisi, reported that it now has 90 days to
complete procedures for making a formal application for a refinery operating
license.

     Petrol Ofisi expects to have the refinery operating within 57 months, the
report said.