ISTANBUL, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Turkey will close the Izmit Bay, a main industrial region, to all shipping traffic on Friday due to work on a bridge project, the GAC shipping agency said on Thursday.

Tupras TUPRS.IS , Turkey's sole oil refiner, and other energy companies and manufacturers are situated on the bay, which is at the eastern end of the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul.

GAC said the Transportation Ministry announced the closure, to take place between 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) and 5 p.m., on Wednesday.

The $1 billion Izmit Bay Bridge project, led by Italy's Astaldi AST.MI , will be one of the world's longest suspension bridges when it opens in 2015.

(Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Alison Williams)

((ayla.yackley@thomsonreuters.com)(+90 212 350 7000)(Reuters Messaging: ayla.yackley.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: TURKEY SHIPPING/