Azerbaijan’s SOCAR Trading sign memorandum with Indian OVL

/By Azernews/

By Fatma Babayeva

SOCAR Trading SA, the marketing arm of the Azerbaijan’s state oil company of SOCAR, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh Limited, SOCAR Trading's reported on May 30.

In accordance with the MoU, the two companies agreed to collaborate in the oil and gas sector by mutually sharing their experience in optimizing sales revenues and their portfolios.

ONGC is India's largest oil and gas exploration and production company which was founded in 1956.

ONGC's operations include conventional exploration and production, refining and progressive development of alternate energy sources like coal-bed methane and shale gas. The company meets about 30 percent of India's crude oil demand.

Headquartered in Geneva, SOCAR Trading was incorporated in December 2007 as the marketing arm of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) with a mandate to market Azeri barrels produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field and other surrounding fields in Azerbaijan.

While the company continues to market the bulk of SOCAR crude oil export volumes from Ceyhan port in Turkey, it has also been able to develop significant third party volumes through both leveraging its system barrels, as well as its experienced traders developing new business. SOCAR Trading's activities cover countries of Europe, Asia and the U.S.

SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, as well as, supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

Three production divisions, one oil refinery and one gas processing plant, a deep water platform fabrication yard, two trusts, one institution, and 23 subdivisions are operating as corporate entities under SOCAR.

In December 2015, the company made a decision to suspend activities of all foreign offices which functions passed to the Baku office which are fully owned by SOCAR.