Azerbaijan accounts for 4pct of EU oil imports

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company (SOCAR) head Rovnag Abdullayev has said that Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of the global energy market, accounting for 4 percent of EU oil imports.

Addressing the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg on June 5, Abdullayev said that Azerbaijan also takes the problem of climate change seriously. 

He spoke about the challenges of the energy transition and the prospects of Azerbaijan’s oil and gas industry.

Abdullayev reminded that in 2016, Azerbaijan signed the Paris Agreement, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent by 2030 compared to 1990, adding that to this date, a 30 percent reduction has been achieved in the country.

“In addition to the annual production of 40 billion cubic meters of gas, we implement large-scale gasification projects both in Azerbaijan and abroad. Since 2005, SOCAR has increased the level of gasification in Azerbaijan from 55 percent up to 96 percent and in Georgia from 40 percent up to 82 percent,” Abdullayev added.

Furthermore, SOCAR's president stressed the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by improving energy efficiency along the entire value chain during the transition period.

Abdullayev also emphasized that SOCAR is consistently moving towards low-hydrocarbon areas, diversifying its business and intends to continue this vector in the future as well. This will enable SOCAR to transform and maintain its competitiveness in new conditions.

As part of the forum, SOCAR also discussed cooperation with Russia’s Rosneft.

Earlier, SOCAR had signed an agreement on the right to export Rosneft's oil products to Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic states.

The forum was held on June 2-5. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum has been held since 1997. The main topics of the forum program this year were global and Russian economy, social issues and technology organization.

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic 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.