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SOCAR

January 01, 1970

This article is about Azerbaijan oil company. For the US state sometimes referred to as "SoCar", see South Carolina.

The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası Dövlət Neft Şirkəti, ARDNŞ), largely known by its abbreviation SOCAR, is a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and offshore fields in the Azerbaijani segment of the Caspian Sea. It operates the country's only oil refinery, one gas processing plant and runs several oil and gas export pipelines throughout the country. It owns fuel filling station networks under the SOCAR brand in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine, Romania, Switzerland, and Austria.

State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan
SOCAR
Native name
Azərbaycan Respublikası Dövlət Neft Şirkəti
Company typeState-owned
IndustryOil and gas
Founded13 September 1992 (1992-09-13)
FounderAbulfaz Elchibey
Headquarters
Baku
,
Azerbaijan
Area served
Europe & Asia
Key people
Rovshan Najaf (president)
Products
Services
Revenue AZN 119,2 bn (2022)[1]
AZN 9.36 bn (2022)[1]
AZN 9.4 bn (2022)[1]
Total assets AZN 80.8 bn (2022)[1]
Total equity AZN 33.3 bn (2022)[1]
OwnerAzerbaijani Government
Number of employees
100,000 (2018)[2]
SubsidiariesBOS Shelf, AZFEN, Petkim, Star Refinery, Baku Shipyard LLC, Interfax Azerbaijan, Ateshgah Insurance, AzLAB, EKOL Engineering
Websitewww.socar.az

SOCAR is a major source of income for the authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan.[3] The company is run in an opaque manner, as it has complex webs of contracts and middlemen that have led to the enrichment of the country's ruling elites.[3][4][5][6][7]

History edit

Main article: Oil industry in Azerbaijan

Soviet era edit

 
SOCAR’s Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery

Azneft, a business that integrated the Azerbaijani oil industry was created after the Bolshevik Revolution through the nationalization of the Azerbaijani oil industry. It was subordinate to different organizations in the former Soviet Union and the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, depending on its organizations' characteristics at different times and was known as Azerneftkomite, Azerneftkombinat (later divided into the Azerneft, Azerneftzavodlar and Azerneftmashingayirma syndicates), and Azerneftchikharma syndicates, and so forth. In 1954–1959,, the Ministry of the Oil Industry of the Azerbaijan SSR and in 1965–1970, the Ministry of Oil Production Industry of the Azerbaijan SSR were established on the basis of Azerneft. In August 1970, it was renamed back to Azerneft.[citation needed]

Post-independence edit

As the Republic of Azerbaijan gained independence, Azerineft State Concern was established on 3 December 1991. The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) was created on 13 September 1992 by the merger of Azerbaijan's two state oil companies, Azerineft State Concern and Azerneftkimiya Production Association according to the decree of then president Abulfaz Elchibey.[8][9] In 1994, the Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Production Association were established as part of the State Oil Company. In 2003, the Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Production Association were merged to form the Azneft Production Union.[10]

On July 21, 2022, Rovshan Najaf was appointed as the President of SOCAR as based on the decree issued by Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.[11] In December 2005, the former head of the Baku Oil Refinery and a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, Rovnag Abdullayev, was appointed President of SOCAR. He replaced Natig Aliyev, who was named Azerbaijan's Minister of Industry and Energy.[12] On the 21st of July 2022, Rovshan Najaf was appointed President of State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, SOCAR.[13]

The Azerbaijan government adopted for a strategy in the 1990s to rev up oil exploration and deplete existing oil wells, with immediate economic gains... Victor Menaldo writes that recently independent Azerbaijan found "itself in a fragile and desperate situation after a war against Armenia, a huge banking crisis, and an economic collapse" and that "the government was left with no other option than to rev up oil exploration and hasten the depletion of extant wells, despite the fact that oil discoveries had peaked."[14]

Menaldo wrote in 2016, "the days in which the Azerbaijani state can offset its underlying weakness by drilling its way out of trouble are numbered... Whether Azerbaijan can now transition to a more diversified economy is an open question."[14] Thomas de Waal wrote in 2018, "Azerbaijan’s economy showed classic symptoms of “Dutch Disease,” the condition whereby heavy reliance on the export of one product—usually oil or gas—weakens the rest of the economy."[6] According to De Waal, the oil wealth had enriched political and economic elites in Azerbaijan, along with underspending of the oil riches on long-term development.[6]

Operations edit

Upstream operations edit

SOCAR's activities are exploration, preparation, exploitation of onshore and offshore oil and gas fields, transportation, processing, refining and sale of oil, gas, condensate and other related products.[9] SOCAR's exploration activities cover the prospective offshore fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The current largest fields being explored are Shafag-Asiman, which is explored with BP,[15] and Absheron natural gas fields which are being explored together with BP and TotalEnergies respectively.[16]

In 2010, SOCAR and BP signed a new production sharing agreement regarding Shafag-Asiman.[17] In 2014, SOCAR and BP signed a joint exploration and development over the Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula.[18] SOCAR has explored the Umid and Bulla Deniz gas fields. In 2017, SOCAR and a consortium led by BP signed a letter of intent for future development of the Azer-Chirag-Gunashli field.[19][20][21] They signed a $6 billion contract regarding the Azeri Central East (ACE) platform on the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field.[22][23][24][25]

In 2016,, SOCAR produced 6.27 billion barrels (997,000,000 m3) of gas.[26][27] Azerbaijan has 57 oil fields, 18 of which are offshore, in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The essential part of the company's revenue comes from the giant ACG oil field complex and Shah Deniz gas field. In September 1994, SOCAR entered into a Production sharing agreement (PSA) with the foreign oil companies led by BP for the 30-year development of the ACG oil field, which was later known as the Contract of the Century. Two years later Shah Deniz PSA was signed. As of 2014, SOCAR holds 11.6% of the ACG shares and 16.7% of the Shah Deniz shares.[28] Moreover, SOCAR operates a number of onshore fields on its own which is the main source of the domestic supply.. In 2013,, 43.48 million tons (318.74 million barrels) of oil was produced in Azerbaijan, of which 8.31 million tons (60.95 million barrels) belong to SOCAR. In the same period, Azerbaijan's natural gas production reached record high of 29.46 billion cubic metre of which SOCAR shares constitute 7.14 billion cubic metre of it.[29][30]

Pipeline operations edit

SOCAR has a share in two parallel-running major export pipelines of the country; Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC) and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP).[31]

 
Azerbaijan's major export pipelines

The pipelines deliver the ACG and Shah Deniz hydrocarbons from Sangachal Terminal located in 45 km south of Baku to Turkey and Europe. They pass through the borders of three countries: Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The share of SOCAR in the BTC and SCP is 25% and 16.7% respectively.[32] In addition, SOCAR is the major shareholder with 58% ownership in the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) and with 20% ownership in Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) which are meant to transmit some 16 bcma of gas produced from the second phase of Shah Deniz gas field with 10 bcma of that going to Europe and 6 bcma to Turkey..[33][34] The TAP is seen as a competitor to Russia's South Stream because of diversification of gas supplies to Europe. In February 2021, SOCAR's vice president for investment and marketing, Elshad Nasirov, stated that 20% of TANAP would be able to transport hydrogen to Europe without additional investments.[35][36]

The company has stakes in the relatively low-capacity Baku-Supsa Pipeline and Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline. The Azerbaijani part of the Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline is operated by SOCAR, whereas Baku-Supsa Pipeline's operator is BP. Moreover, SOCAR operates Dubendi Oil Terminal[37] in Azerbaijan and Kulevi Oil Terminal in Georgia, which are important for transportation and export.[38]

An additional supply contract was signed in May 2021, with Russia's Rosneft, to start supplying Ukraine and other countries with oil products and LPG. This came about after Swiss trader Proton Energy suspended shipments of Russian diesel to the country that April.[39] This is the first time since 2016 that another company will be supplying Rosneft products to the Ukraine. According to BM Georgia, the supply agreement will provide SOCAR with an additional 100,000 tons of diesel fuel and 12,000 tons of LPG.[40]

Refining operations edit

SOCAR has two oil refineries and one gas processing plant. Azerneftyagh Oil Refinery specializes in the production of fuels and oils, producing gasoline, kerosene and diesel distillates, various oils (industrial, motor, transformer etc.) and asphalt. All fuel distillates produced there are sent to Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery for redistillation. The refinery processes 21 out of 24 grades of the Azerbaijani crude. It meets the country's entire demand for petroleum products, and 45% of its petroleum products are exported. The Gas Processing Plant produces processed gas, liquified gas and natural gasoline. In 2010, the plant produced 4 bcm of processed gas, 24,800 tons of liquefied gas and 26,700 tons of natural gasoline.[41]

Two subsidiaries of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A signed two EPCs with Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery (HAOR) for its modernization and reconstruction in 2021. The one EPC is for the installation of a Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) gasoline hydrotreating unit, and the other for the installation of an LPG mercaptan oxidation unit and an amine treatment and LPG pre-treatment unit.[42] SOCAR and Axens signed licensing and design agreements for the FCC unit included in the HAOR modernisation project. With this, engineers will be provided with schooling related to the units, as well as specifically aiming to develop energy efficiency skills and sustainability.[43]

Retail station operations edit

 
SOCAR fuel filling station on Babek Avenue, Baku, Azerbaijan

The first fuel station of the company under the brand name SOCAR was opened in neighboring Georgia in 2008, before any in its home country. The fuel stations in Georgia are operated by the subsidiary of the company SOCAR Georgia Petroleum. As of 2014, there were currently more than 110 filling stations in Georgia making it the largest retail fuel station network of SOCAR.[44] In Azerbaijan, the company operates a few (less than any other country where it operates)[45] filling stations under the brand name SOCAR since 2010. It is the third-largest network of retail stations in Azerbaijan after Azpetrol and Lukoil. In 2011, the first retail station of SOCAR was opened in Ukraine. In October 2014, the number of the SOCAR stations in Ukraine reached 40.[46]

In 2011, the company entered into the Romanian market, acquiring initially 90% and at a later stage the rest 10% of the stake in Romtranspetrol.[47] In September 2014, SOCAR launched its 30th filling station in Romania.[48] In November 2011, SOCAR bought ExxonMobil's Swiss subsidiary Esso Schweiz for an undisclosed amount. Along with the acquisition SOCAR became the owner of a network of more than 160 filling stations operating under the brand name Esso across the country.[49] The first SOCAR premium fueling station in Switzerland after the rebranding was opened in September 2012 in Zürich. All the operations in Switzerland are managed and led by SOCAR Energy Switzerland.[50][51]

In 2021, plans were announced that Alpiq, EW Hofe and SOCAR Energy Switzerland will be building an electrolysis plant in the Freienbach district, which is to produce 1,000 to 1,200 tons of emission-free mobility green hydrogen a year. The green hydrogen that is produced there will be transported in the pipelines of the former substation to the Fuchsberg motorway service station, where SOCAR will set up filling stations.[52][53][54]

Other operations edit

In December 2007, SOCAR Trading was incorporated and became the marketing division of SOCAR. Headquartered in Geneva, SOCAR Trading offers ultra-low-sulfur-diesel, liquefied petroleum gas and markets SOCAR crude oil export volumes[55] from Ceyhan, trades third-party crude and oil products and assists SOCAR with international investments in logistics, downstream and sales. Alongside its field of activity in marketing and sales, SOCAR Trading assists SOCAR in expanding SOCAR's assets as well.[56]

Azerigaz Production Union (PU) has been carrying out transportation, distribution and sale of natural gas in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Union has also been ensuring transportation of natural gas produced by SOCAR to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Georgia and the Russian Federation.[57]

Main directions of SOCAR Georgia Gas activity comprise import into the Georgian market and sale of natural gas, as well as construction and rehabilitation of gas pipelines. In 2010, the company was honoured with 'Best Company of the year' for active participation in 'Gas provision of all villages' program of the Georgian President.[citation needed]

Baku Shipyard LLC[58] joint venture was founded on 10 May 2011 under the laws of Republic of Azerbaijan, by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) owning 65%, Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) 25%, and Keppel Offshore Marine (KOM) 10%, has developed and put into operation the most modern shipbuilding and ship-repair facility in the Caspian Sea.

Opening ceremony of Star Oil Refinery was held on 19 October in İzmir, Turkey with the participation of Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Since the beginning of the project, US$1 392.8 million has been allocated to finance the Azerbaijani share on the STAR project within the framework of the SOFAZ's budget execution.[59][60]

On 15 July 2021, SOCAR signed a cooperation agreement with Technip Energies involving a joint pilot project to produce offshore energy on a floating wind turbine. Back in April of the same year, Azerbaijan had signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in order to cooperate on offshore wind development. The cooperation between the two companies is to determine the potential of the countries offshore wind possibilities.[61][62]

Locations edit

 
SOCAR's previous Head Office on Azneft Square in downtown Baku, named after historical "Azneft" ("AzOil") trust

SOCAR's headquarters are located in a 42-floor SOCAR Tower which was under construction since 2010 and completed in late 2016. It is the tallest skyscraper in the Caucasus with 209m of height. Apart from the head office, SOCAR's supporting offices are dispersed across the city.

The first representative office of SOCAR was established in London in 1994. Now the company has offices in London, Frankfurt, Geneva, Vienna, Bucharest, Istanbul, Kyiv, Tbilisi, Astana and Tehran.[63][64][65]

Accidents edit

On 17 August 2013, a gas blowout occurred at the platform No.90 of Bulla Deniz field. As a result, the platform burned from 17 August to 24 October 2013.[66] On 23 October 2014, four workers were killed and three workers were in injured when during repair works on the platform No. 441 at the Narimanov field a small wagon-house fell into the sea which damaged a gas pipeline and caused a fire.[67][68] Altogether, fourteen SOCAR's workers were killed in oil and gas platforms accidents in 2014.[69]

On 4 December 2015, three workers of SOCAR were reported missing after part of the living quarters at Oil Rocks fell into the sea due to a heavy storm.[70] At the same day, seven workers were killed, 23 reported missing, and 33 were rescued and evacuated when a fire broke out on the platform No. 10 at the western section of the Gunashli oilfield.[69][71][72] (As of January 2016, a total of 10 bodies have been found, leaving 20 people unaccounted for.)

Corruption and controversies edit

SOCAR is often associated with the widespread corruption in Azerbaijan. In a 2011 survey by Transparency International concerning the anti-corruption practices of 44 oil companies, SOCAR ranked last.[73] Frank Schwabe, a member of the German Bundestag and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, sees SOCAR as a "central steering instrument for the foreign policy and sports policy of the authoritarian president of Azerbaijan."[74] SOCAR is considered "well-connected" in Germany and plays a role in the wake of revelations about lobbying and corruption in connection with the Azerbaijani laundromat. The state-owned company supports, among other things, annual symposia organized by the Azerbaijani Embassy in Berlin and the German-Azerbaijani Forum association (DAF).[75][76]

Bribery and illegal payments edit

In 1997/1998, the government of Azerbaijan was in the process of privatizing SOCAR. In 2009 Frederic Bourke, founder of Dooney & Bourke and Viktor Kožený were convicted by a court in Manhattan on paying bribes to the former president of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, his son and first vice-president of SOCAR at that time Ilham Aliyev and other Azerbaijani government leaders to induce them to rig the privatization of SOCAR in Bourke’s and Kožený's favor. Bourke denied knowing about the bribes, while Kožený admitted bribing Azerbaijani leaders. According to the indictment, the total amount of bribes reached 11 million dollars.[77][78][79]

According to a confidential ethics report, in 2013 SOCAR secretly funded a trip to a conference in Baku for 10 U.S. members of Congress and 32 of their staff. Three former senior advisers to then-President Barack Obama appeared as speakers at the event. The congressmen and their staff had their travel expenses and luxury gifts paid for by SOCAR worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. SOCAR allegedly funneled $750,000 in funds through nonprofit companies based in the United States to disguise the origin of the funds. Members of Congress participating in the trip later stated that they had not known that the trip had been funded by SOCAR. SOCAR itself stated that its sponsorship had never been a secret.[80][81]

In 2017, it became known that SOCAR had made illegal payments totaling 28,000 euros to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany district association in Frankfurt in 2012. By accepting the donations, the party violated the Political Parties Act, as corporate donations from non-EU countries are prohibited. The case led to a years-long legal dispute with the Bundestag administration, of which the public did not learn.[82][76]

In 2018, it became known that SOCAR paid a controversial donation of 3,000 euros to the German sports club "TuS Dexheim" in 2014. The donation was organized by the then-mayor of Oppenheim and former Social Democratic Party of Germany member of the Bundestag Marcus Held.[83][84]

Embezzlement edit

Two SOCAR subsidiaries embezzled $1.7 billion as part of a contract with BP to expand its operations in the Shah Deniz gas field. The embezzled funds were supposed to go Azerbaijan's public coffers.[85]

Murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia edit

SOCAR is also part of corruption revelations that led to the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017.[86][87][88] SOCAR's Maltese chief is in custody as a main suspect in connection with the murder.[74][89]

In April 2021, a Swiss court dismissed a lawsuit by SOCAR, in which Azerbaijan's state-owned company sought to prevent the disclosure of bank information to Latvian police. Latvia is investigating suspicious payments of about 28 million euros by Azerbaijani-controlled shell companies linked to an agreement between the Maltese government and SOCAR. The agreement became public during the investigative research of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.[90] Latvian authorities were able to force Swiss banks to release banking information about SOCAR in connection with the investigation of an international money laundering scandal.[91][74]

War propaganda edit

In 2020, SOCAR came under criticism after it publicly engaged in war propaganda against Armenia on behalf of the Azerbaijani government during the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.[92][93][74][89]

Sponsorship edit

Since 2012, SOCAR has sought to avoid U.S. sanctions aimed at Iran, its partner in a 28 billion dollar Caspian Sea natural gas project. [94][95] SOCAR funded an all-expenses-paid US-Azerbaijan "energy conference" in Baku for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members, which took place on 28 and 29 May 2013. It used two Houston based non-profit organizations, the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan (AFAZ) and the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians, both run by Kemal Oksuz as conduits.[94]

In May 2013, UEFA announced that SOCAR is an Official Sponsor of the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament, and acquires rights in connection with the European Qualifiers, which run from 2014 to 2017, and which relate to the qualification matches for UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. SOCAR also becomes an Official Sponsor of the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, which will take place in Azerbaijan.[96]

In September 2014, SOCAR signed an agreement to become an Official Partner of Baku 2015 European Games[97] SOCAR is the sponsor of Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani football club Neftchi Baku.[98][99]

SOCAR became the title sponsor and official partner for the 2019 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix event held in Baku. To date, a one-year sponsorship agreement had been made.[100]

In 2021, the UEFA quietly terminated its partnership with SOCAR without informing the public, after criticism of the sponsorship had grown stronger.[89]

On 31 July 2022, SOCAR became the energy & chest sponsor of Turkish giants Galatasaray in European competition matches for next three seasons, starting from 2023 to 24 season.[101][102][103][104]

See also edit

References edit

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External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to SOCAR.
  • Official website (in Azerbaijani and English)

January 01, 1970
socar, this, article, about, azerbaijan, company, state, sometimes, referred, socar, south, carolina, state, company, republic, azerbaijan, azerbaijani, azərbaycan, respublikası, dövlət, neft, şirkəti, ardnş, largely, known, abbreviation, fully, state, owned, . This article is about Azerbaijan oil company For the US state sometimes referred to as SoCar see South Carolina The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan Azerbaijani Azerbaycan Respublikasi Dovlet Neft Sirketi ARDNS largely known by its abbreviation SOCAR is a fully state owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku Azerbaijan The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and offshore fields in the Azerbaijani segment of the Caspian Sea It operates the country s only oil refinery one gas processing plant and runs several oil and gas export pipelines throughout the country It owns fuel filling station networks under the SOCAR brand in Azerbaijan Turkey Georgia Ukraine Romania Switzerland and Austria State Oil Company of the Republic of AzerbaijanTrade nameSOCARNative nameAzerbaycan Respublikasi Dovlet Neft SirketiCompany typeState ownedIndustryOil and gasFounded13 September 1992 1992 09 13 FounderAbulfaz ElchibeyHeadquartersBaku AzerbaijanArea servedEurope amp AsiaKey peopleRovshan Najaf president ProductsPetroleumNatural gas FuelsPetrochemicalsServicesSalesTransportationService stationsTradingShipbuildingRevenueAZN 119 2 bn 2022 1 Operating incomeAZN 9 36 bn 2022 1 Net incomeAZN 9 4 bn 2022 1 Total assetsAZN 80 8 bn 2022 1 Total equityAZN 33 3 bn 2022 1 OwnerAzerbaijani GovernmentNumber of employees100 000 2018 2 SubsidiariesBOS Shelf AZFEN Petkim Star Refinery Baku Shipyard LLC Interfax Azerbaijan Ateshgah Insurance AzLAB EKOL EngineeringWebsitewww wbr socar wbr az SOCAR is a major source of income for the authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan 3 The company is run in an opaque manner as it has complex webs of contracts and middlemen that have led to the enrichment of the country s ruling elites 3 4 5 6 7 Contents 1 History 1 1 Soviet era 1 2 Post independence 2 Operations 2 1 Upstream operations 2 2 Pipeline operations 2 3 Refining operations 2 4 Retail station operations 2 5 Other operations 3 Locations 4 Accidents 5 Corruption and controversies 5 1 Bribery and illegal payments 5 2 Embezzlement 5 3 Murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia 5 4 War propaganda 6 Sponsorship 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksHistory editMain article Oil industry in Azerbaijan Soviet era edit nbsp SOCAR s Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery Azneft a business that integrated the Azerbaijani oil industry was created after the Bolshevik Revolution through the nationalization of the Azerbaijani oil industry It was subordinate to different organizations in the former Soviet Union and the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic depending on its organizations characteristics at different times and was known as Azerneftkomite Azerneftkombinat later divided into the Azerneft Azerneftzavodlar and Azerneftmashingayirma syndicates and Azerneftchikharma syndicates and so forth In 1954 1959 the Ministry of the Oil Industry of the Azerbaijan SSR and in 1965 1970 the Ministry of Oil Production Industry of the Azerbaijan SSR were established on the basis of Azerneft In August 1970 it was renamed back to Azerneft citation needed Post independence edit As the Republic of Azerbaijan gained independence Azerineft State Concern was established on 3 December 1991 The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic SOCAR was created on 13 September 1992 by the merger of Azerbaijan s two state oil companies Azerineft State Concern and Azerneftkimiya Production Association according to the decree of then president Abulfaz Elchibey 8 9 In 1994 the Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Production Association were established as part of the State Oil Company In 2003 the Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Production Association were merged to form the Azneft Production Union 10 On July 21 2022 Rovshan Najaf was appointed as the President of SOCAR as based on the decree issued by Ilham Aliyev the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan 11 In December 2005 the former head of the Baku Oil Refinery and a member of the Azerbaijani parliament Rovnag Abdullayev was appointed President of SOCAR He replaced Natig Aliyev who was named Azerbaijan s Minister of Industry and Energy 12 On the 21st of July 2022 Rovshan Najaf was appointed President of State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan SOCAR 13 The Azerbaijan government adopted for a strategy in the 1990s to rev up oil exploration and deplete existing oil wells with immediate economic gains Victor Menaldo writes that recently independent Azerbaijan found itself in a fragile and desperate situation after a war against Armenia a huge banking crisis and an economic collapse and that the government was left with no other option than to rev up oil exploration and hasten the depletion of extant wells despite the fact that oil discoveries had peaked 14 Menaldo wrote in 2016 the days in which the Azerbaijani state can offset its underlying weakness by drilling its way out of trouble are numbered Whether Azerbaijan can now transition to a more diversified economy is an open question 14 Thomas de Waal wrote in 2018 Azerbaijan s economy showed classic symptoms of Dutch Disease the condition whereby heavy reliance on the export of one product usually oil or gas weakens the rest of the economy 6 According to De Waal the oil wealth had enriched political and economic elites in Azerbaijan along with underspending of the oil riches on long term development 6 Operations editUpstream operations edit SOCAR s activities are exploration preparation exploitation of onshore and offshore oil and gas fields transportation processing refining and sale of oil gas condensate and other related products 9 SOCAR s exploration activities cover the prospective offshore fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea The current largest fields being explored are Shafag Asiman which is explored with BP 15 and Absheron natural gas fields which are being explored together with BP and TotalEnergies respectively 16 In 2010 SOCAR and BP signed a new production sharing agreement regarding Shafag Asiman 17 In 2014 SOCAR and BP signed a joint exploration and development over the Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula 18 SOCAR has explored the Umid and Bulla Deniz gas fields In 2017 SOCAR and a consortium led by BP signed a letter of intent for future development of the Azer Chirag Gunashli field 19 20 21 They signed a 6 billion contract regarding the Azeri Central East ACE platform on the Azeri Chirag Gunashli field 22 23 24 25 In 2016 SOCAR produced 6 27 billion barrels 997 000 000 m3 of gas 26 27 Azerbaijan has 57 oil fields 18 of which are offshore in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea The essential part of the company s revenue comes from the giant ACG oil field complex and Shah Deniz gas field In September 1994 SOCAR entered into a Production sharing agreement PSA with the foreign oil companies led by BP for the 30 year development of the ACG oil field which was later known as the Contract of the Century Two years later Shah Deniz PSA was signed As of 2014 SOCAR holds 11 6 of the ACG shares and 16 7 of the Shah Deniz shares 28 Moreover SOCAR operates a number of onshore fields on its own which is the main source of the domestic supply In 2013 43 48 million tons 318 74 million barrels of oil was produced in Azerbaijan of which 8 31 million tons 60 95 million barrels belong to SOCAR In the same period Azerbaijan s natural gas production reached record high of 29 46 billion cubic metre of which SOCAR shares constitute 7 14 billion cubic metre of it 29 30 Pipeline operations edit SOCAR has a share in two parallel running major export pipelines of the country Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan pipeline BTC and South Caucasus Pipeline SCP 31 nbsp Azerbaijan s major export pipelinesThe pipelines deliver the ACG and Shah Deniz hydrocarbons from Sangachal Terminal located in 45 km south of Baku to Turkey and Europe They pass through the borders of three countries Azerbaijan Georgia and Turkey The share of SOCAR in the BTC and SCP is 25 and 16 7 respectively 32 In addition SOCAR is the major shareholder with 58 ownership in the Trans Anatolian gas pipeline TANAP and with 20 ownership in Trans Adriatic Pipeline TAP which are meant to transmit some 16 bcma of gas produced from the second phase of Shah Deniz gas field with 10 bcma of that going to Europe and 6 bcma to Turkey 33 34 The TAP is seen as a competitor to Russia s South Stream because of diversification of gas supplies to Europe In February 2021 SOCAR s vice president for investment and marketing Elshad Nasirov stated that 20 of TANAP would be able to transport hydrogen to Europe without additional investments 35 36 The company has stakes in the relatively low capacity Baku Supsa Pipeline and Baku Novorossiysk Pipeline The Azerbaijani part of the Baku Novorossiysk Pipeline is operated by SOCAR whereas Baku Supsa Pipeline s operator is BP Moreover SOCAR operates Dubendi Oil Terminal 37 in Azerbaijan and Kulevi Oil Terminal in Georgia which are important for transportation and export 38 An additional supply contract was signed in May 2021 with Russia s Rosneft to start supplying Ukraine and other countries with oil products and LPG This came about after Swiss trader Proton Energy suspended shipments of Russian diesel to the country that April 39 This is the first time since 2016 that another company will be supplying Rosneft products to the Ukraine According to BM Georgia the supply agreement will provide SOCAR with an additional 100 000 tons of diesel fuel and 12 000 tons of LPG 40 Refining operations edit SOCAR has two oil refineries and one gas processing plant Azerneftyagh Oil Refinery specializes in the production of fuels and oils producing gasoline kerosene and diesel distillates various oils industrial motor transformer etc and asphalt All fuel distillates produced there are sent to Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery for redistillation The refinery processes 21 out of 24 grades of the Azerbaijani crude It meets the country s entire demand for petroleum products and 45 of its petroleum products are exported The Gas Processing Plant produces processed gas liquified gas and natural gasoline In 2010 the plant produced 4 bcm of processed gas 24 800 tons of liquefied gas and 26 700 tons of natural gasoline 41 Two subsidiaries of Maire Tecnimont S p A signed two EPCs with Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery HAOR for its modernization and reconstruction in 2021 The one EPC is for the installation of a Fluid catalytic cracking FCC gasoline hydrotreating unit and the other for the installation of an LPG mercaptan oxidation unit and an amine treatment and LPG pre treatment unit 42 SOCAR and Axens signed licensing and design agreements for the FCC unit included in the HAOR modernisation project With this engineers will be provided with schooling related to the units as well as specifically aiming to develop energy efficiency skills and sustainability 43 Retail station operations edit nbsp SOCAR fuel filling station on Babek Avenue Baku Azerbaijan The first fuel station of the company under the brand name SOCAR was opened in neighboring Georgia in 2008 before any in its home country The fuel stations in Georgia are operated by the subsidiary of the company SOCAR Georgia Petroleum As of 2014 there were currently more than 110 filling stations in Georgia making it the largest retail fuel station network of SOCAR 44 In Azerbaijan the company operates a few less than any other country where it operates 45 filling stations under the brand name SOCAR since 2010 It is the third largest network of retail stations in Azerbaijan after Azpetrol and Lukoil In 2011 the first retail station of SOCAR was opened in Ukraine In October 2014 the number of the SOCAR stations in Ukraine reached 40 46 In 2011 the company entered into the Romanian market acquiring initially 90 and at a later stage the rest 10 of the stake in Romtranspetrol 47 In September 2014 SOCAR launched its 30th filling station in Romania 48 In November 2011 SOCAR bought ExxonMobil s Swiss subsidiary Esso Schweiz for an undisclosed amount Along with the acquisition SOCAR became the owner of a network of more than 160 filling stations operating under the brand name Esso across the country 49 The first SOCAR premium fueling station in Switzerland after the rebranding was opened in September 2012 in Zurich All the operations in Switzerland are managed and led by SOCAR Energy Switzerland 50 51 In 2021 plans were announced that Alpiq EW Hofe and SOCAR Energy Switzerland will be building an electrolysis plant in the Freienbach district which is to produce 1 000 to 1 200 tons of emission free mobility green hydrogen a year The green hydrogen that is produced there will be transported in the pipelines of the former substation to the Fuchsberg motorway service station where SOCAR will set up filling stations 52 53 54 Other operations edit In December 2007 SOCAR Trading was incorporated and became the marketing division of SOCAR Headquartered in Geneva SOCAR Trading offers ultra low sulfur diesel liquefied petroleum gas and markets SOCAR crude oil export volumes 55 from Ceyhan trades third party crude and oil products and assists SOCAR with international investments in logistics downstream and sales Alongside its field of activity in marketing and sales SOCAR Trading assists SOCAR in expanding SOCAR s assets as well 56 Azerigaz Production Union PU has been carrying out transportation distribution and sale of natural gas in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan The Union has also been ensuring transportation of natural gas produced by SOCAR to the Islamic Republic of Iran Georgia and the Russian Federation 57 Main directions of SOCAR Georgia Gas activity comprise import into the Georgian market and sale of natural gas as well as construction and rehabilitation of gas pipelines In 2010 the company was honoured with Best Company of the year for active participation in Gas provision of all villages program of the Georgian President citation needed Baku Shipyard LLC 58 joint venture was founded on 10 May 2011 under the laws of Republic of Azerbaijan by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan SOCAR owning 65 Azerbaijan Investment Company AIC 25 and Keppel Offshore Marine KOM 10 has developed and put into operation the most modern shipbuilding and ship repair facility in the Caspian Sea Opening ceremony of Star Oil Refinery was held on 19 October in Izmir Turkey with the participation of Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan Since the beginning of the project US 1 392 8 million has been allocated to finance the Azerbaijani share on the STAR project within the framework of the SOFAZ s budget execution 59 60 On 15 July 2021 SOCAR signed a cooperation agreement with Technip Energies involving a joint pilot project to produce offshore energy on a floating wind turbine Back in April of the same year Azerbaijan had signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Finance Corporation IFC in order to cooperate on offshore wind development The cooperation between the two companies is to determine the potential of the countries offshore wind possibilities 61 62 Locations edit nbsp SOCAR s previous Head Office on Azneft Square in downtown Baku named after historical Azneft AzOil trust SOCAR s headquarters are located in a 42 floor SOCAR Tower which was under construction since 2010 and completed in late 2016 It is the tallest skyscraper in the Caucasus with 209m of height Apart from the head office SOCAR s supporting offices are dispersed across the city The first representative office of SOCAR was established in London in 1994 Now the company has offices in London Frankfurt Geneva Vienna Bucharest Istanbul Kyiv Tbilisi Astana and Tehran 63 64 65 Accidents editOn 17 August 2013 a gas blowout occurred at the platform No 90 of Bulla Deniz field As a result the platform burned from 17 August to 24 October 2013 66 On 23 October 2014 four workers were killed and three workers were in injured when during repair works on the platform No 441 at the Narimanov field a small wagon house fell into the sea which damaged a gas pipeline and caused a fire 67 68 Altogether fourteen SOCAR s workers were killed in oil and gas platforms accidents in 2014 69 On 4 December 2015 three workers of SOCAR were reported missing after part of the living quarters at Oil Rocks fell into the sea due to a heavy storm 70 At the same day seven workers were killed 23 reported missing and 33 were rescued and evacuated when a fire broke out on the platform No 10 at the western section of the Gunashli oilfield 69 71 72 As of January 2016 a total of 10 bodies have been found leaving 20 people unaccounted for Corruption and controversies editSOCAR is often associated with the widespread corruption in Azerbaijan In a 2011 survey by Transparency International concerning the anti corruption practices of 44 oil companies SOCAR ranked last 73 Frank Schwabe a member of the German Bundestag and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe sees SOCAR as a central steering instrument for the foreign policy and sports policy of the authoritarian president of Azerbaijan 74 SOCAR is considered well connected in Germany and plays a role in the wake of revelations about lobbying and corruption in connection with the Azerbaijani laundromat The state owned company supports among other things annual symposia organized by the Azerbaijani Embassy in Berlin and the German Azerbaijani Forum association DAF 75 76 Bribery and illegal payments edit In 1997 1998 the government of Azerbaijan was in the process of privatizing SOCAR In 2009 Frederic Bourke founder of Dooney amp Bourke and Viktor Kozeny were convicted by a court in Manhattan on paying bribes to the former president of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev his son and first vice president of SOCAR at that time Ilham Aliyev and other Azerbaijani government leaders to induce them to rig the privatization of SOCAR in Bourke s and Kozeny s favor Bourke denied knowing about the bribes while Kozeny admitted bribing Azerbaijani leaders According to the indictment the total amount of bribes reached 11 million dollars 77 78 79 According to a confidential ethics report in 2013 SOCAR secretly funded a trip to a conference in Baku for 10 U S members of Congress and 32 of their staff Three former senior advisers to then President Barack Obama appeared as speakers at the event The congressmen and their staff had their travel expenses and luxury gifts paid for by SOCAR worth hundreds of thousands of dollars SOCAR allegedly funneled 750 000 in funds through nonprofit companies based in the United States to disguise the origin of the funds Members of Congress participating in the trip later stated that they had not known that the trip had been funded by SOCAR SOCAR itself stated that its sponsorship had never been a secret 80 81 In 2017 it became known that SOCAR had made illegal payments totaling 28 000 euros to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany district association in Frankfurt in 2012 By accepting the donations the party violated the Political Parties Act as corporate donations from non EU countries are prohibited The case led to a years long legal dispute with the Bundestag administration of which the public did not learn 82 76 In 2018 it became known that SOCAR paid a controversial donation of 3 000 euros to the German sports club TuS Dexheim in 2014 The donation was organized by the then mayor of Oppenheim and former Social Democratic Party of Germany member of the Bundestag Marcus Held 83 84 Embezzlement edit Two SOCAR subsidiaries embezzled 1 7 billion as part of a contract with BP to expand its operations in the Shah Deniz gas field The embezzled funds were supposed to go Azerbaijan s public coffers 85 Murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia edit SOCAR is also part of corruption revelations that led to the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017 86 87 88 SOCAR s Maltese chief is in custody as a main suspect in connection with the murder 74 89 In April 2021 a Swiss court dismissed a lawsuit by SOCAR in which Azerbaijan s state owned company sought to prevent the disclosure of bank information to Latvian police Latvia is investigating suspicious payments of about 28 million euros by Azerbaijani controlled shell companies linked to an agreement between the Maltese government and SOCAR The agreement became public during the investigative research of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia 90 Latvian authorities were able to force Swiss banks to release banking information about SOCAR in connection with the investigation of an international money laundering scandal 91 74 War propaganda edit In 2020 SOCAR came under criticism after it publicly engaged in war propaganda against Armenia on behalf of the Azerbaijani government during the 44 day Nagorno Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan 92 93 74 89 Sponsorship editSince 2012 SOCAR has sought to avoid U S sanctions aimed at Iran its partner in a 28 billion dollar Caspian Sea natural gas project 94 95 SOCAR funded an all expenses paid US Azerbaijan energy conference in Baku for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members which took place on 28 and 29 May 2013 It used two Houston based non profit organizations the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan AFAZ and the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians both run by Kemal Oksuz as conduits 94 In May 2013 UEFA announced that SOCAR is an Official Sponsor of the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament and acquires rights in connection with the European Qualifiers which run from 2014 to 2017 and which relate to the qualification matches for UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup SOCAR also becomes an Official Sponsor of the 2016 UEFA European Under 17 Football Championship which will take place in Azerbaijan 96 In September 2014 SOCAR signed an agreement to become an Official Partner of Baku 2015 European Games 97 SOCAR is the sponsor of Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani football club Neftchi Baku 98 99 SOCAR became the title sponsor and official partner for the 2019 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix event held in Baku To date a one year sponsorship agreement had been made 100 In 2021 the UEFA quietly terminated its partnership with SOCAR without informing the public after criticism of the sponsorship had grown stronger 89 On 31 July 2022 SOCAR became the energy amp chest sponsor of Turkish giants Galatasaray in European competition matches for next three seasons starting from 2023 to 24 season 101 102 103 104 See also editRovnag Abdullayev Adnan AhmadzadaReferences edit a b c d e SOCAR Consolidated Financial Statements IFRS 31 December 2022 SOCAR Archived from the original on 29 September 2023 Retrieved 17 February 2024 Archived copy PDF Archived PDF from the original on 25 April 2019 Retrieved 25 April 2019 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link a b Altstadt Audrey L 2017 Frustrated Democracy in Post Soviet Azerbaijan Columbia University Press pp 114 120 ISBN 978 0 231 80141 6 Ross Michael 2012 The Oil Curse How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations Princeton University Press p 60 ISBN 978 0 691 14545 7 Gillies Alexandra 20 December 2019 Crude Intentions How Oil Corruption Contaminates the World Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 094072 0 a b c Waal Thomas de 2 November 2018 The Caucasus An Introduction Oxford University Press pp 185 186 226 229 ISBN 978 0 19 068311 5 Cornell Svante E 2015 Azerbaijan Since Independence Routledge pp 210 211 235 ISBN 978 1 317 47621 4 Azerbaijan Since Independence M E Sharpe 2011 ISBN 9780765630049 Retrieved 11 June 2016 via Google Books a b Azerbaijan portal azerbaijan az Archived from the original on 8 August 2017 Retrieved 15 October 2017 History of SOCAR Official web page of the company retrieved on July 7 2015 socar az Archived from the original on 24 November 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2017 R C Necefin Azerbaycan Respublikasi Dovlet Neft Sirketinin prezidenti teyin edilmesi haqqinda Azerbaycan Respublikasi Prezidentinin Serencami p https president az az Retrieved 21 July 2022 Today is the memorial day for late Minister of Energy Natig Aliyev Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan Retrieved 17 March 2023 Rovshan Najaf appointed as SOCAR President Anadolu Agency Retrieved 22 July 2022 a b Menaldo Victor 2016 The Institutions Curse Natural Resources Politics and Development Cambridge University Press pp 23 205 ISBN 978 1 107 13860 5 BP Socar to Begin Exploratory Drilling in Shafag Asoman Gas Field in Caspian Caspian Policy Center 16 January 2019 Archived from the original on 22 September 2020 Retrieved 8 April 2020 Petrofac SOCAR JV to service Absheron field AzerNews 20 August 2019 Archived from the original on 18 September 2019 Retrieved 8 April 2020 Shafag Asiman BP Archived from the original on 13 May 2020 Retrieved 8 April 2020 SWAP to contribute to nearshore exploration success in Caspian basin AzerNews 2 June 2017 Archived from the original on 29 June 2017 Retrieved 21 April 2020 SOCAR ve ABES ACG yataginin 2050 ci iledek gelecek islenmesine dair razilasmanin prinsiplerini imzaladilar Press release in Azerbaijani BP Archived from the original on 12 January 2017 Retrieved 20 September 2017 The Azerbaijan government and co venturers sign amended and restated Azeri Chirag Deepwater Gunashli PSA Press release BP Archived from the original on 18 September 2017 Retrieved 20 September 2017 Resource Global Network BP and partners sign Azerbaijan oil field extension deal resourceglobalnetwork com Archived from the original on 1 November 2020 Retrieved 20 September 2017 BP SOCAR Sign Deal to Build New Azeri Oil Exploration Platform The New York Times Reuters 19 April 2019 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on 23 April 2019 Retrieved 24 April 2019 Bagirova Nailia 19 April 2019 BP SOCAR sign deal to build new Azeri oil exploration platform Reuters Archived from the original on 23 April 2019 Retrieved 24 April 2019 BP leads 6bn of fresh investment in Azeri oil project Financial Times 19 April 2019 Archived from the original on 20 April 2019 Retrieved 24 April 2019 BP and SOCAR sign new Azeri oil deal Arab News 19 April 2019 Archived from the original on 23 April 2019 Retrieved 24 April 2019 SOCAR Plans to Annually Produce 300 Mcm of Gas from New Bulla Deniz Well Caspian Barrel 27 January 2017 Archived from the original on 26 September 2020 Retrieved 21 April 2020 SOCAR to launch new platform on Bulla Deniz field AzerNews 4 October 2016 Archived from the original on 17 October 2016 Retrieved 21 April 2020 SOCAR Activities Production Azeri Chirag Deep Water Gunashli socar az Archived from the original on 19 October 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2017 SOCAR Economics and Statistics Oil production access date 7 July 2015 socar az Archived from the original on 14 April 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2017 SOCAR Economics and Statistics Gas production access date 7 July 2015 socar az Archived from the original on 19 October 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2017 Resource Directory Azerbaijan International Archived from the original on 1 March 2010 Retrieved 13 January 2010 EBRD SOCAR South Caucasus Gas Pipeline Project Summary Info ebrd com Archived from the original on 20 August 2008 Retrieved 15 October 2017 Chazan Guy 16 December 2013 Total and Statoil pull out of Tanap gas pipe deal Financial Times Archived from the original on 4 February 2021 Retrieved 11 June 2016 Germany and France withdraw from Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG cesd az 1 October 2014 access date 19 October 2014 cesd az Archived from the original on 20 October 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2017 SOCAR mulls hydrogen supply to Europe via TANAP Latest News Hurriyet Daily News Retrieved 24 August 2022 TANAP pipeline could carry hydrogen to Europe The Energy Year Retrieved 24 August 2022 Azernews Az 7 November 2019 Oil Rocks provide to 70pct of SOCAR s output Azernews Az Retrieved 26 June 2022 SOCAR to double capacity at Kulevi port in Georgia www ogj com Retrieved 26 June 2022 SOCAR Rosneft tie up on fuel supplies to Ukraine other countries Reuters 17 May 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2023 SOCAR Rosneft sign fuel supply deal for Ukraine petrolplaza com Retrieved 17 March 2023 SOCAR Activities Refining Gas Processing Plant socar az Archived from the original on 14 November 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2017 Maire Tecnimont and SOCAR sign EPC contracts for refining units in Baku Hydrocarbon Engineering 3 February 2021 Retrieved 17 March 2023 SOCAR signs license and design agreements with Axens Hydrocarbon Engineering 24 January 2022 Retrieved 17 March 2023 AzerNews 24 March 2014 SOCAR opens more filling stations in Georgia Romania Archived from the original on 9 July 2016 Retrieved 11 June 2016 Number of SOCAR petrol stations in Romania exceeds company s filling station net in Azerbaijan Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 11 June 2016 SOCAR s filling stations in Ukraine reach 40 Archived from the original on 5 March 2016 Retrieved 11 June 2016 SOCAR expands its gas station network and plans new investments Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 11 June 2016 SOCAR opens its 30th filling station in Romania SOCAR News archive 17 September 2014 access date 7 July 2015 socar az Archived from the original on 22 September 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2017 SOCAR acquires Esso Schweiz from ExxonMobil SOCAR ENERGY Switzerland Archived from the original on 23 March 2016 Retrieved 11 June 2016 SOCAR eroffnet erste Tankstelle Auto amp Wirtschaft 25 September 2012 Archived from the original on 4 February 2021 Retrieved 21 April 2020 SOCAR opens its first premium service station in Switzerland SOCAR 26 September 2012 Archived from the original on 4 February 2021 Retrieved 21 April 2020 SOCAR to build electrolysis plant in Switzerland Azernews Az 6 August 2021 Retrieved 16 March 2023 Antidze Margarita 5 August 2021 SOCAR to participate in green hydrogen plant construction project in Switzerland The Tribune Retrieved 16 March 2023 Green hydrogen EW Hofe Alpiq and SOCAR Energy Switzerland mark a new milestone alpiq com Retrieved 16 March 2023 Socar Trading SA Bloomberg Retrieved 23 April 2020 Country increases LNG sales AzerNews 13 June 2019 Archived from the original on 24 February 2020 Retrieved 23 April 2020 Gas injection volume by Azerbaijan s Azerigaz Production Union reaches record high AzerNews 25 November 2019 Archived from the original on 9 August 2020 Retrieved 23 April 2020 Baku Shipyard www bakushipyard com Archived from the original on 14 October 2017 Retrieved 15 October 2017 CBC AZ SOCAR s Star Refinery to be launched on October 19 CBC Archived from the original on 1 December 2018 Retrieved 30 November 2018 STAR oil refinery inaugurated Report News Agency Archived from the original on 1 December 2018 Retrieved 30 November 2018 Floating Wind Project Unveiled in Azerbaijan Offshore Wind 15 July 2021 Retrieved 4 July 2022 SOCAR Technip Energies ink deal on offshore energy development Azernews Az 16 July 2021 Retrieved 4 July 2022 SOCAR Representative offices socar az Archived from the original on 23 November 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2017 Gorst Isabel 24 January 2008 State Oil Company Burning ambition to compete on global stage Financial Times Archived from the original on 29 October 2009 Retrieved 13 January 2010 SOCAR office in Romania officially inaugurated Romania News Watch 13 July 2007 Archived from the original on 15 July 2011 Retrieved 13 January 2010 Jafarova Aynur 24 October 2013 Fire at emergency well in Bulla Deniz field extinguished source Azer News Archived from the original on 8 December 2015 Retrieved 5 December 2015 Lewis Josh 3 November 2014 Missing Socar worker confirmed dead Upstream Online NHST Media Group Archived from the original on 8 December 2015 Retrieved 5 December 2015 SOCAR recovers body from October rig accident UPI 3 November 2014 Archived from the original on 8 December 2015 Retrieved 5 December 2015 a b Bagirova Nailia 5 December 2015 One worker killed 30 missing after Azeri oil rig fire government Reuters Archived from the original on 5 December 2015 Retrieved 2 July 2017 Oil workers missing at Socar platform Upstream Online NHST Media Group 4 December 2015 Archived from the original on 6 December 2015 Retrieved 5 December 2015 Fire on Azerbaijan s offshore Guneshli field continues Cihan News Agency 5 December 2015 Archived from the original on 8 December 2015 Agayev Zulfugar 5 December 2015 Fire at Oil Field in Azerbaijan Kills 30 People Official Says Bloomberg News Archived from the original on 16 March 2016 Retrieved 11 March 2017 Basler Kantonalbank setzt NGO vor die Tur TagesWoche 22 December 2012 retrieved 29 December 2020 a b c d Schweizer EM Spiel in AserbaidschanKulisse fur Despoten Deutschlandfunk 12 June 2021 retrieved 23 December 2021 Thomas Bareiss Wie nah steht er den Aserbaidschan Lobbynetzwerken Lobbycontrol 2 May 2021 retrieved 29 December 2021 a b Die Baku Connection Wie Aserbaidschan in Deutschland schmiert und lobbyiert RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland 12 March 2021 retrieved 25 December 2021 Executive Guilty of Conspiracy in Foreign Bribery Case The New York Times 10 July 2009 retrieved 3 January 2022 Azerbaijan and International Corruption Scandals Baku Research Institute 3 June 2021 retrieved 3 January 2022 Debevoise amp Plimpton FCPA related money laundering risks for financial and non financial firms 30 October 2013 retrieved 2 January 2022 Ethics Report Reveals Azerbaijan Secretly Bankrolled Trip for US Lawmakers Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project 14 May 2015 retrieved 25 December 2021 10 members of Congress took trip secretly funded by foreign government The Washington Post 13 May 2015 retrieved 27 December 2021 CDU erhalt mysteriose Gelder aus Aserbaidschan Suddeutsche Zeitung 26 October 2017 retrieved 2 January 2022 TuS Dexheim lasst Mitglieder uber SOCAR Spende entscheiden Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz 4 October 2018 retrieved 21 December 2021 Blut an den Handen Die Aserbaidschan Connections der Union n tv 13 March 2021 retrieved 26 December 2021 BP Turned a Blind Eye to Corruption in Prize Azerbaijan Gas Project OCCRP 2022 It s time to make a commitment to protect the media View Access to the comments euronews 16 October 2021 retrieved 28 December 2021 17 Black money trail leads to Switzerland with links to Azerbaijan The Times of Malta 16 October 2020 retrieved 28 December 2021 Das Image des Olhandlers leidet Socar Feuer und Flamme fur so vieles Public Eye 12 January 2021 retrieved 25 December 2021 a b c Aserbaidschanischer Olkonzern SOCAR UEFA beendet Partnerschaft mit umstrittenem Sponsor Deutschlandfunk 13 May 2021 retrieved 24 December 2021 Maltese Taxpayers Losing Out in Gas Deal with Azerbaijan Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project 25 April 2018 retrieved 2 January 2022 SOCAR fails in legal bid to block Latvian investigation into secret Malta LNG agreement The Shift 8 April 2021 retrieved 22 December 2021 Migros under fire for war propaganda by partner Socar Werbewoche 8 October 2020 retrieved 2 January 2022 Wie Milliardendeals in der Schweiz die Kriegskassen von Aserbeidschan fullen Tages Anzeiger 3 December 2020 retrieved 24 December 2021 a b Scott Higham Steven Rich Alice Crites 13 May 2015 10 members of Congress took trip secretly funded by foreign government Washington Post Archived from the original on 3 January 2017 Retrieved 28 May 2015 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Will Tucker Lise Olsen and Kevin Diaz 13 May 2015 U S House Ethics panel probes Texas lawmakers Azerbaijan trip Houston Chronicle Archived from the original on 29 May 2015 Retrieved 29 May 2015 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link SOCAR signs as Official Sponsor for UEFA national team competitions uefa com Archived from the original on 21 October 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2017 Baku 2015 European Games Signs SOCAR As Official Partner baku2015 com Archived from the original on 25 September 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2017 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link One weekend three games Worldwide BabaGol 23 April 2015 Archived from the original on 4 February 2021 Retrieved 23 April 2020 SOCAR signs as Official Sponsor for UEFA European Football Championship APA Group 17 May 2013 Archived from the original on 4 February 2021 Retrieved 23 April 2020 SOCAR becomes title sponsor of F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019 vestnikkavkaza net 23 April 2019 Archived from the original on 25 May 2019 Retrieved 25 May 2019 Galatasaray ve SOCAR dan dev is birligi anlasmasi in Turkish Galatasaray S K 11 July 2023 Retrieved 12 July 2023 Galatasaray ile SOCAR arasindaki sponsorluk anlasmasinin imza toreni gerceklestirildi in Turkish Galatasaray S K 31 July 2023 Retrieved 31 July 2023 SOCAR becomes the energy sponsor and the uniform sponsor of Galatasaray in the Euro Cups www socar az SOCAR Retrieved 28 August 2023 SOCAR ve Galatasaray sponsorluk icin imzayi atti www socar com tr in Turkish SOCAR Turkiye Retrieved 28 August 2023 External links edit nbsp Azerbaijan portal nbsp Energy portal nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to SOCAR Official website in Azerbaijani and English Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title SOCAR amp oldid 1219224330, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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