26 Facts About SOCAR

1.

SOCAR produces oil and natural gas from onshore and offshore fields in the Azerbaijani segment of the Caspian Sea.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,634
2.

SOCAR is a major source of income for the authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,635
3.

SOCAR is run in an opaque manner, as it has complex webs of contracts and middlemen that have led to the enrichment of the country's ruling elites.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,636
4.

SOCAR replaced Natig Aliyev, who was named Azerbaijan's Minister of Industry and Energy.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,637
5.

SOCAR's activities are exploration, preparation, exploitation of onshore and offshore oil and gas fields, transportation, processing, refining and sale of oil, gas, condensate and other related products.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,638
6.

In September 1994, SOCAR entered into a Production sharing agreement with the foreign oil companies led by BP for the 30-year development of the ACG oil field which was later known as the Contract of the Century.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,639
7.

SOCAR has a share in two parallel-running major export pipelines of the country; Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and South Caucasus Pipeline .

FactSnippet No. 1,302,640
8.

SOCAR has two oil refineries and one gas processing plant.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,641
9.

In November 2011, SOCAR bought ExxonMobil's Swiss subsidiary Esso Schweiz for an undisclosed amount.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,642
10.

The first SOCAR premium fueling station in Switzerland after the rebranding was opened in September 2012 in Zurich.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,643
11.

In December 2007, SOCAR Trading was incorporated and became the marketing division of SOCAR.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,644
12.

On 15 July 2021, SOCAR signed a cooperation agreement with Technip Energies involving a joint pilot project to produce offshore energy on a floating wind turbine.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,645
13.

SOCAR's headquarter is located at a 42-floor SOCAR Tower which was under construction since 2010 and completed in late 2016.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,646
14.

Altogether, fourteen SOCAR's workers were killed in oil and gas platforms accidents in 2014.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,647
15.

On 4 December 2015, three workers of SOCAR were reported missing after part of the living quarters at Oil Rocks fell into the sea due to a heavy storm.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,648
16.

SOCAR is often associated with the widespread corruption in Azerbaijan.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,649
17.

SOCAR itself stated that its sponsorship had never been a secret.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,650
18.

SOCAR is part of corruption revelations that led to the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,651
19.

In 2020, SOCAR came under criticism after it publicly engaged in war propaganda against Armenia on behalf of the Azerbaijani government during the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,652
20.

Since 2012, SOCAR has sought to avoid U S sanctions aimed at Iran, its partner in a 28 billion dollar Caspian Sea natural gas project.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,653
21.

SOCAR funded an all-expenses-paid US-Azerbaijan "energy conference" in Baku for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members which took place on 28 and 29 May 2013.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,654
22.

In May 2013, UEFA announced that SOCAR is an Official Sponsor of the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament, and acquires rights in connection with the European Qualifiers, which run from 2014 to 2017, and which relate to the qualification matches for UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,655
23.

SOCAR becomes an Official Sponsor of the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, which will take place in Azerbaijan.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,656
24.

In September 2014, SOCAR signed an agreement to become an Official Partner of Baku 2015 European GamesSOCAR is the sponsor of Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani football club Neftchi Baku.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,657
25.

SOCAR became the title sponsor and official partner for the 2019 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix event held in Baku.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,658
26.

In 2021 the UEFA quietly terminated its partnership with SOCAR without informing the public, after criticism of the sponsorship had grown stronger.

FactSnippet No. 1,302,659