The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has rolled up its sleeves for another investment with plans to purchase German energy giant EWE's assets in Turkey.

Following refinery, petro-chemistry, oil and pipelines, the company is now holding talks with the German energy giant EWE to acquire its natural gas distribution companies in the provinces of western Bursa and central Kayseri at an estimated cost of $140 million, Turkish daily Habertürk reported.

Moreover, Trend News Agency also cited SOCAR's Public Relations Directer Ibrahim Ahmadov as saying that the company was holding talks with the German firm, however, no final agreement has been signed yet.

As investments are underway in order to expand the natural gas network to all provinces and districts throughout the country, the sector is currently experiencing a busy period.

EWE Turkey Holding, which has been operating under the German energy giant EWE AG since 2007, has recently decided to leave the Turkish natural gas market.

Accordingly, the group will sell four of its subsidiaries, namely Bursagaz, Kayserigaz, electricity trader EWE Enerji and Enervis, a technology service provider for the energy industry, to Azerbaijan's SOCAR, at an estimated cost of $140 million. The sales are expected to be officially announced in the next couple of days, according to the report.

EWE currently holds an 80 percent stake in Bursagaz and Kayserigaz. While Çalık Energy has 10 percent stake in these companies, the remaining 10 percent is managed by municipalities.

The Azeri giant began investing in Turkey after it acquired the country's leading petrochemical company Petkim in 2008 for $2 billion. SOCAR has so far invested around $19 billion in Turkey.

Meanwhile, Turkey and Azerbaijan witnessed on Oct. 19 the inauguration of the largest single-location real sector investment in Turkey, the SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), in İzmir's Aliağa district. The grand opening ceremony was held with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Azeri counterpart İlham Aliyev in attendance.

The $6.3-billion-refinery will be one of the biggest petroleum and gas operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. EWE Energy manages Turkey's largest private wholesale portfolio with an annual natural gas supply volume of 2 billion cubic meters.