Baku, Azerbaijan, July 9
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
Since early 2017, Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR has invested 140 million manats for financing of the Southern Gas Corridor project, according to the SOCAR’s consolidated financial statements for 2016 audited by the London-based Ernst & Young company.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.
At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.
As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline.
This is while since early 2017, SOCAR invested 19 million manats in the Azerbaijan Rigs LLC (a joint venture between the SOCAR and the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan), which was created for the construction of a new semi-submersible drilling rig named after Azerbaijan’s national leader Heydar Aliyev, according to the financial statements.
Also, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Company (BTC Co.), an operator of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, paid dividends worth 72 million manats ($42 million) to SOCAR since the beginning of 2017.
SOCAR includes Azneft (a production association of enterprises that produce oil and gas on land and sea), Azerikimya (a production association of chemical industry enterprises) and Azerigaz (deals with distribution of gas in the country).
SOCAR is the sole petroleum products producer in Azerbaijan owning over 370 filling stations in Georgia, Ukraine, Romania and Switzerland. It is also a co-owner of the largest Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim.