SOCAR completes preparation of corporate development strategy

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan State Oil Company (SOCAR) has completed the work on preparation of the development strategy until 2035, the company's president Rovnag Abdullayev said in an article published in the official press September 19.

According to the statement, the company prepared a new strategy of development until 2035, together with McKinsey company, all details of which will be presented to the government.

It should be noted that among the main principles of a new strategy are sustainable development, application of the improved management system, increase of social and environmental responsibility and provision of the company’s profitability.

Moreover, Abdullayev noted that the corporate strategy of the company provides digitalization of production cycle, increase of investments into innovations and venture projects, optimization of human resources potential through re-profiling and professional development. In addition, one of the main objectives of the strategy is to increase Azerbaijan’s share in providing regional and global energy security along with full satisfaction of domestic needs of the country in oil, gas, products of its processing and petrochemistry.

Furthermore, he emphasized that oil and gas fields located primarily on land with high production costs were shut down. However, production at offshore fields with higher profitability indicators continues in full.

Abdullayev noted that the main factors of the decision-making mechanism in the raw material production limitation process were principles of economic efficiency, technical stability, industrial safety and minimization of negative environmental impact. It should be noted that another factor were OPEC+ deal, under which daily oil production in Azerbaijan should be 587,000 barrels in July-December 2020 and 620,000 barrels in January-April 2021.

Likewise, he stated that the company keeps up to date with the latest digital technology in the energy industry, and successfully implements the digitization program in all areas of activity, from field exploration to transportation of hydrocarbons to the final processing process.

Additionally, it was noted that the company is launching a digital field project based on SAP UFAM to improve oil and gas operations. Abdullayev noted that SAP UFAM will combine production processes into a single system and integrate with the digital core of the company. The project to create a single source of information, which allows integrating planning, modeling, analysis and monitoring of all oil production processes, is being gradually implemented by SOCAR, Caspian Innovation Center, SAP Digital Business Services and OIS.

Thus, the digital method has already been implemented and tested in two SOCAR oil and gas departments using a system of agreed algorithms. The digital platform significantly reduces losses, supports the decision-making process, creates an active model for calculating static and dynamic constraints, displays all business objects on the map in a real-time monitoring panel and compiles their passports, the latest and current operating parameters.

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, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan. The company owns two refineries in Azerbaijan, one in Turkey, as well as networks of petrol stations in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Romania and Switzerland.