SOCAR

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic ( SOCAR, Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası Dövlət Neft Şirkəti, ARDNS ) is an Azerbaijani company, based in Baku. The company is active in the oil and gas industry.

SOCAR was established in September 1992 by the merger of state-owned petroleum company Azerineft and Azneftkimiya. Through numerous subsidiaries and holdings, SOCAR operates in the production of oil and gas, the operation of the two oil refineries in Azerbaijan as well as the marketing of the promoted and processed products. SOCAR holds shares in the Baku -Tbilisi -Ceyhan and South Caucasus Pipeline.

About half of the oil production from SOCAR attributable to the oil field, " Shallow -water Guneshli " (formerly " field of the April 28 "), which is located east of the Absheron Peninsula in the Caspian Sea. Overall, SOCAR has claims to own over 57 oil and gas production sites, of which 18 are offshore. In addition, SOCAR acts within operating in Azerbaijan international support consortia as a local partner, such as for the AIOC.

The export business of SOCAR in 2012 covered around 95 percent of the state budget of Azerbaijan in the amount of about 18 billion U.S. dollars. SOCAR is often associated with the rampant corruption in Azerbaijan. In a study of anti-corruption practices of 44 oil companies by Transparency International in 2011 SOCAR took the last place.

SOCAR is also active abroad. In Switzerland, on the SOCAR conducts its export business, it occurs with a modernized logo as operator of the former Esso petrol stations and the main sponsor of the Montreux Jazz Festival.