State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic
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The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is the state-owned oil and natural gas corporation in Azerbaijan. It produces oil and natural gas, operates two oil refineries and the running of oil and gas pipelines through out the country. 'SOCAR' oversees the international consortia that is developing new oil and gas projects in Azerbaijan.
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[edit] History
SOCAR was established in September 1992 upon the merger of Azerbaijan's two state oil companies, Azerneft and Azneftkimiya. Azerneft was created after the Bolshevik revolution through the nationalization of the Azerbaijani oil industry. During the Soviet period, Azerneft went through several reorganizations and re-namings.
In 1994, SOCAR signed the "Contract of the Century" related to the extraction of oil from the Caspian Sea.
[edit] Operations
SOCAR employs more than 70,000 people. In 2005 SOCAR produced over 14 million tones of oil at a rate of 150,000 bbls/d, mostly from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field. Since 1994, SOCAR has signed 25 production sharing agreements (PSAs) with private companies, many other which are based overseas.
[edit] Projects
SOCAR has a 25% stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and South Caucasus Pipeline. It also has stakes in the Baku-Supsa Pipeline and Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline.
[edit] Management
In January 2006 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 had been named Azerbaijan's Minister of Industry and Energy.
