Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Afghanistan is interested in raising the cooperation with Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR to a new level, Trend reports citing Afghanistan’s Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Ajmal Ahmadi.
He made the remarks during a meeting with SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev Oct.11.
During the meeting, which was also attended by members of Afghan delegation, the sides touched upon the role of cooperation in the oil and gas sector in overall development of bilateral economic relations. They pointed to the significant role of Azerbaijani petroleum products in Afghanistan’s fuel market.
Ahmadi briefed SOCAR president about Afghanistan’s fuel market and expressed interest in raising the cooperation with SOCAR in order to diversify its import sources.
Afghanistan consumes around 3 million metric tons of refined oil and gas on an annual basis, the vast majority of which is imported from neighboring countries.. In accordance with the Constitution of Afghanistan, which mandates a market economy, the entire domestic demand is being supplied by the private sector; the government is not a market participant.
One of the significant projects is the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the Toti Maidan project, and the Yatimtaq project.
The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (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. Three production divisions, one oil refineries 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.
SOCAR conducts various petroleum activities in countries such as Georgia, Turkey, Romania, Switzerland, Germany and Ukraine, including trading activities, mainly in Switzerland, Singapore and Nigeria.
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