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115-903: BP reports that crude oil from ACG is exported through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline to the Mediterranean Sea and the Baku-Supsa Pipeline to Supsa in Georgia , as well as through the Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline to Novorossiysk in Russia . It is believed that there may also be untapped natural gas reserves under the ACG oilfields. Media reports indicate that according to American Consulting Association IHS CERA (Cambridge Energy Research Associates),

230-611: A gas blowout occurred at the platform No.90 of Bulla Deniz field . As a result, the platform burned from 17 August to 24 October 2013. On 23 October 2014, four workers were killed and three workers were in injured when during repair works on the platform No. 441 at the Narimanov field a small wagon-house fell into the sea which damaged a gas pipeline and caused a fire. Altogether, fourteen SOCAR's workers were killed in oil and gas platforms accidents in 2014. On 4 December 2015, three workers of SOCAR were reported missing after part of

345-598: A 42-floor SOCAR Tower which was under construction since 2010 and completed in late 2016. It is the tallest skyscraper in the Caucasus with 209m of height. Apart from the head office, SOCAR's supporting offices are dispersed across the city. The first representative office of SOCAR was established in London in 1994. Now the company has offices in London , Frankfurt , Geneva , Vienna , Bucharest , Istanbul , Kyiv , Tbilisi , Astana and Tehran . On 17 August 2013,

460-513: A court in Manhattan on paying bribes to the former president of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev , his son and first vice-president of SOCAR at that time Ilham Aliyev and other Azerbaijani government leaders to induce them to rig the privatization of SOCAR in Bourke’s and Kožený's favor. Bourke denied knowing about the bribes, while Kožený admitted bribing Azerbaijani leaders. According to the indictment,

575-520: A fluid resembling petroleum, which when treated in the same way as the seep oil gave similar products. Young found that by slow distillation he could obtain several useful liquids from it, one of which he named "paraffine oil" because at low temperatures it congealed into a substance resembling paraffin wax. The production of these oils and solid paraffin wax from coal formed the subject of his patent dated October 17, 1850. In 1850, Young & Meldrum and Edward William Binney entered into partnership under

690-885: A joint exploration and development over the Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula . SOCAR has explored the Umid and Bulla Deniz gas fields. In 2017, SOCAR and a consortium led by BP signed a letter of intent for future development of the Azer-Chirag-Gunashli field. They signed a $ 6 billion contract regarding the Azeri Central East (ACE) platform on the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field. In 2016,, SOCAR produced 6.27 billion barrels (997,000,000 m ) of gas. Azerbaijan has 57 oil fields, 18 of which are offshore, in

805-565: A joint pilot project to produce offshore energy on a floating wind turbine . Back in April of the same year, Azerbaijan had signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in order to cooperate on offshore wind development. The cooperation between the two companies is to determine the potential of the countries offshore wind possibilities. SOCAR's headquarters are located in

920-726: A loss from the transaction in the range of $ 300 million to $ 400 million, recorded in 2024. Of Equinor's original 7.27% interest in ACG, 6.655% reverted to SOCAR , the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and 0.615% to ONGCVidesh . As of the first quarter of 2024, the remaining participating shareholders of the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli development were BP with a 30.37% stake, SOCAR (31.66%), MOL (9.57%), INPEX (9.31%), ExxonMobil (6.79%), TPAO (5.73%), Itochu (3.65%) and ONGCVidesh (2.93%). BP also leads

1035-512: A much shallower level. The Athabasca oil sands are one example of this. An alternative mechanism to the one described above was proposed by Russian scientists in the mid-1850s, the hypothesis of abiogenic petroleum origin (petroleum formed by inorganic means), but this is contradicted by geological and geochemical evidence. Abiogenic sources of oil have been found, but never in commercially profitable amounts. "The controversy isn't over whether abiogenic oil reserves exist," said Larry Nation of

1150-414: A platform for repeated pumping in a layer to support layer pressure. As of September 2009, 164.2 million tonnes of oil and 37 billion cubic meters of associated gas have been produced and 80.3 million cubic meters of water and 13 billion cubic meters of gas have been injected into layers since the beginning of production in ACG fields in 1997. The total production rate of the ACG complex as of

1265-476: A process known as catagenesis . Formation of petroleum occurs from hydrocarbon pyrolysis in a variety of mainly endothermic reactions at high temperatures or pressures, or both. These phases are described in detail below. In the absence of plentiful oxygen, aerobic bacteria were prevented from decaying the organic matter after it was buried under a layer of sediment or water. However, anaerobic bacteria were able to reduce sulfates and nitrates among

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1380-598: A set of parallel reactions, and oil eventually breaks down to natural gas by another set of reactions. The latter set is regularly used in petrochemical plants and oil refineries . SOCAR The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan ( Azerbaijani : Azərbaycan Respublikası Dövlət Neft Şirkəti, ARDNŞ ), largely known by its abbreviation SOCAR , is a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku , Azerbaijan . The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and offshore fields in

1495-665: A significant amount of petroleum while drilling for lignite in Wietze , Germany. Wietze later provided about 80% of German consumption in the Wilhelminian Era. The production stopped in 1963, but Wietze has hosted a Petroleum Museum since 1970. Oil sands have been mined since the 18th century. In Wietze in lower Saxony, natural asphalt/bitumen has been explored since the 18th century. Both in Pechelbronn as in Wietze,

1610-574: A source of internal and inter-state conflict, leading to both state-led wars and other resource conflicts . Production of petroleum is estimated to reach peak oil before 2035 as global economies lower dependencies on petroleum as part of climate change mitigation and a transition towards renewable energy and electrification . The word petroleum comes from Medieval Latin petroleum (literally 'rock oil'), which comes from Latin petra 'rock' (from Greek pétra πέτρα ) and oleum 'oil' (from Greek élaion ἔλαιον ). The origin of

1725-436: A strategy in the 1990s to rev up oil exploration and deplete existing oil wells, with immediate economic gains. Victor Menaldo writes that recently independent Azerbaijan found "itself in a fragile and desperate situation after a war against Armenia, a huge banking crisis, and an economic collapse" and that "the government was left with no other option than to rev up oil exploration and hasten the depletion of extant wells, despite

1840-411: A variety of liquid, gaseous, and solid components. Lighter hydrocarbons are the gases methane , ethane , propane and butane . Otherwise, the bulk of the liquid and solids are largely heavier organic compounds, often hydrocarbons (C and H only). The proportion of light hydrocarbons in the petroleum mixture varies among oil fields . An oil well produces predominantly crude oil. Because the pressure

1955-526: A visit to Fort Duquesne in 1750. Early British explorers to Myanmar documented a flourishing oil extraction industry based in Yenangyaung that, in 1795, had hundreds of hand-dug wells under production. Merkwiller-Pechelbronn is said to be the first European site where petroleum has been explored and used. The still active Erdpechquelle, a spring where petroleum appears mixed with water has been used since 1498, notably for medical purposes. There

2070-554: A year before Drake's Pennsylvania operation and could be argued to be the first commercial oil well in North America. The discovery at Oil Springs touched off an oil boom which brought hundreds of speculators and workers to the area. Advances in drilling continued into 1862 when local driller Shaw reached a depth of 62 metres using the spring-pole drilling method. On January 16, 1862, after an explosion of natural gas , Canada's first oil gusher came into production, shooting into

2185-442: Is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture. It consists mainly of hydrocarbons , and is found in geological formations . The term petroleum refers both to naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil, as well as to petroleum products that consist of refined crude oil. Conventional reserves of petroleum are primarily recovered by drilling , which is done after a study of the relevant structural geology , analysis of

2300-491: Is called diagenesis , a word that means a transformation of materials by dissolution and recombination of their constituents. Kerogen formation continued to a depth of about 1 km from the Earth's surface where temperatures may reach around 50 °C . Kerogen formation represents a halfway point between organic matter and fossil fuels : kerogen can be exposed to oxygen, oxidize and thus be lost, or it could be buried deeper inside

2415-832: Is considered "well-connected" in Germany and plays a role in the wake of revelations about lobbying and corruption in connection with the Azerbaijani laundromat . The state-owned company supports, among other things, annual symposia organized by the Azerbaijani Embassy in Berlin and the German-Azerbaijani Forum association (DAF). In 1997/1998, the government of Azerbaijan was in the process of privatizing SOCAR. In 2009 Frederic Bourke, founder of Dooney & Bourke and Viktor Kožený were convicted by

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2530-726: Is considered a sticky, black, tar-like form of crude oil which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow. Venezuela also has large amounts of oil in the Orinoco oil sands , although the hydrocarbons trapped in them are more fluid than in Canada and are usually called extra heavy oil . These oil sands resources are called unconventional oil to distinguish them from oil which can be extracted using traditional oil well methods. Between them, Canada and Venezuela contain an estimated 3.6 trillion barrels (570 × 10 ^  m ) of bitumen and extra-heavy oil, about twice

2645-619: Is for the installation of a Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) gasoline hydrotreating unit, and the other for the installation of an LPG mercaptan oxidation unit and an amine treatment and LPG pre-treatment unit. SOCAR and Axens signed licensing and design agreements for the FCC unit included in the HAOR modernisation project. With this, engineers will be provided with schooling related to the units, as well as specifically aiming to develop energy efficiency skills and sustainability. The first fuel station of

2760-508: Is in custody as a main suspect in connection with the murder. In April 2021, a Swiss court dismissed a lawsuit by SOCAR, in which Azerbaijan's state-owned company sought to prevent the disclosure of bank information to Latvian police. Latvia is investigating suspicious payments of about 28 million euros by Azerbaijani-controlled shell companies linked to an agreement between the Maltese government and SOCAR. The agreement became public during

2875-473: Is lower at the surface than underground, some of the gas will come out of solution and be recovered (or burned) as associated gas or solution gas . A gas well produces predominantly natural gas . However, because the underground temperature is higher than at the surface, the gas may contain heavier hydrocarbons such as pentane, hexane , and heptane (" natural-gas condensate ", often shortened to condensate. ) Condensate resembles gasoline in appearance and

2990-756: Is now called the Drake Well in Cherrytree Township, Pennsylvania .There also was a company associated with it, and it sparked a major oil drilling boom. The first commercial oil well in Canada became operational in 1858 at Oil Springs, Ontario (then Canada West ). Businessman James Miller Williams dug several wells between 1855 and 1858 before discovering a rich reserve of oil four metres below ground. Williams extracted 1.5 million litres of crude oil by 1860, refining much of it into kerosene lamp oil. Williams's well became commercially viable

3105-532: 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. Azneft, a business that integrated the Azerbaijani oil industry was created after the Bolshevik Revolution through the nationalization of the Azerbaijani oil industry. It was subordinate to different organizations in the former Soviet Union and

3220-451: Is similar in composition to some volatile light crude oils . The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostly alkanes , cycloalkanes and various aromatic hydrocarbons , while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen , oxygen , and sulfur , and traces of metals such as iron, nickel, copper and vanadium . Many oil reservoirs contain live bacteria. The exact molecular composition of crude oil varies widely from formation to formation but

3335-443: Is supplied by BP free of charge. Azerbaijan received over 1 billion cubic meters of gas from these fields in the 1st quarter of 2009. Current recovery comes to nearly 27 million cubic meters of casing head gas a day. A portion of gas is routed to national gas transportation system of Azerbaijan. Some is used as source of fuel at the platforms. Casing head gas from platforms in central, western and eastern parts of Azeri field

3450-449: Is supplied to Sangachal Terminal via 28 inch subsea gas pipeline to distributive system of Azerigaz CJSC to use on the local market. A portion of casing head gas extracted at Chirag platform is directed to SOCAR's compressor station (the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) to Oil Rocks field via 16 inch subsea gas pipeline. The rest of the gas from Azeri–Chirag–Guneshli platforms are pumped through intra field subsea gas pipeline to

3565-789: Is the major shareholder with 58% ownership in the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) and with 20% ownership in Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) which are meant to transmit some 16 bcma of gas produced from the second phase of Shah Deniz gas field with 10 bcma of that going to Europe and 6 bcma to Turkey.. The TAP is seen as a competitor to Russia's South Stream because of diversification of gas supplies to Europe. In February 2021, SOCAR's vice president for investment and marketing, Elshad Nasirov, stated that 20% of TANAP would be able to transport hydrogen to Europe without additional investments. The company has stakes in

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3680-473: Is used in manufacturing a vast variety of materials essential for modern life, and it is estimated that the world consumes about 100 million barrels (16 million cubic metres ) each day. Petroleum production played a key role in industrialization and economic development. Some countries, known as petrostates , gained significant economic and international power over their control of oil production and trade. Petroleum exploitation can be damaging to

3795-468: The 2018 FIFA World Cup . SOCAR also becomes an Official Sponsor of the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, which will take place in Azerbaijan. In September 2014, SOCAR signed an agreement to become an Official Partner of Baku 2015 European Games SOCAR is the sponsor of Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani football club Neftchi Baku . SOCAR became

3910-515: The AIOC consortium. Under a 2017 agreement to extend the production sharing to 2049, the interest of SOCAR, the Azeri state energy company, increased to 25% while the interests of the other shareholders were reduced. With 3 stages completed and 7 operational platforms functional, total production from Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli was more than 1 million barrels (160,000 m) a day in 2009. During

4025-687: The Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan (AFAZ) and the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians, both run by Kemal Oksuz as conduits. 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

4140-815: The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , depending on its organizations' characteristics at different times and was known as Azerneftkomite, Azerneftkombinat (later divided into the Azerneft, Azerneftzavodlar and Azerneftmashingayirma syndicates), and Azerneftchikharma syndicates, and so forth. In 1954–1959,, the Ministry of the Oil Industry of the Azerbaijan SSR and in 1965–1970, the Ministry of Oil Production Industry of

4255-674: The Earth's crust and be subjected to conditions which allow it to slowly transform into fossil fuels like petroleum. The latter happened through catagenesis in which the reactions were mostly radical rearrangements of kerogen. These reactions took thousands to millions of years and no external reactants were involved. Due to the radical nature of these reactions, kerogen reacted towards two classes of products: those with low H/C ratio ( anthracene or products similar to it) and those with high H/C ratio ( methane or products similar to it); i.e., carbon-rich or hydrogen-rich products. Because catagenesis

4370-1089: The Freienbach district, which is to produce 1,000 to 1,200 tons of emission-free mobility green hydrogen a year. The green hydrogen that is produced there will be transported in the pipelines of the former substation to the Fuchsberg motorway service station, where SOCAR will set up filling stations. In December 2007, SOCAR Trading was incorporated and became the marketing division of SOCAR. Headquartered in Geneva , SOCAR Trading offers ultra-low-sulfur-diesel, liquefied petroleum gas and markets SOCAR crude oil export volumes from Ceyhan , trades third-party crude and oil products and assists SOCAR with international investments in logistics, downstream and sales. Alongside its field of activity in marketing and sales, SOCAR Trading assists SOCAR in expanding SOCAR's assets as well. Azerigaz Production Union (PU) has been carrying out transportation, distribution and sale of natural gas in

4485-490: The Orinoco Belt . While significant volumes of oil are extracted from oil sands, particularly in Canada, logistical and technical hurdles remain, as oil extraction requires large amounts of heat and water, making its net energy content quite low relative to conventional crude oil. Thus, Canada's oil sands are not expected to provide more than a few million barrels per day in the foreseeable future. Petroleum consists of

4600-808: The Soviet Union in total output. In 1973 , Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations imposed an oil embargo against the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and other Western nations which supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War of October 1973. The embargo caused an oil crisis . This was followed by the 1979 oil crisis , which was caused by a drop in oil production in the wake of the Iranian Revolution and caused oil prices to more than double. The two oil price shocks had many short- and long-term effects on global politics and

4715-540: The United States , but is responsible for only one percent of electricity generation. Petroleum's worth as a portable, dense energy source powering the vast majority of vehicles and as the base of many industrial chemicals makes it one of the world's most important commodities . The top three oil-producing countries as of 2018 are the United States, Russia , and Saudi Arabia . In 2018, due in part to developments in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling ,

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4830-695: The Western Export Route Pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, to MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas PLC. In 2018, and again in May 2020, ExxonMobil unsuccessfully put its stake in Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli up for sale. In 2023, Norway's Equinor divested all of its assets in Azerbaijan, including its stakes in the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli development and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Equinor reported

4945-455: The actinomycetales order of bacteria also produced antibiotic compounds (e.g., streptomycin ). Thus the action of anaerobic bacteria ceased at about 10 m below the water or sediment. The mixture at this depth contained fulvic acids, unreacted and partially reacted fats and waxes, slightly modified lignin , resins and other hydrocarbons. As more layers of organic matter settled into the sea or lake bed, intense heat and pressure built up in

5060-585: The 12th century. It has also been present in Romania since the 13th century, being recorded as păcură. Sophisticated oil pits, 4.5 to 6 metres (15 to 20 ft) deep, were dug by the Seneca people and other Iroquois in Western Pennsylvania as early as 1415–1450. The French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm encountered Seneca using petroleum for ceremonial fires and as a healing lotion during

5175-475: The 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 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. 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. It used two Houston based non-profit organizations,

5290-503: The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. "The controversy is over how much they contribute to Earth's overall reserves and how much time and effort geologists should devote to seeking them out." Three conditions must be present for oil reservoirs to form: The reactions that produce oil and natural gas are often modeled as first order breakdown reactions, where hydrocarbons are broken down to oil and natural gas by

5405-521: The Azerbaijan SSR were established on the basis of Azerneft. In August 1970, it was renamed back to Azerneft . As the Republic of Azerbaijan gained independence, Azerineft State Concern was established on 3 December 1991. The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) was created on 13 September 1992 by the merger of Azerbaijan's two state oil companies, Azerineft State Concern and Azerneftkimiya Production Association according to

5520-500: The Azerbaijani crude. It meets the country's entire demand for petroleum products, and 45% of its petroleum products are exported. The Gas Processing Plant produces processed gas, liquified gas and natural gasoline. In 2010, the plant produced 4 bcm of processed gas, 24,800 tons of liquefied gas and 26,700 tons of natural gasoline. Two subsidiaries of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A signed two EPCs with Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery (HAOR) for its modernization and reconstruction in 2021. The one EPC

5635-637: The Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea . The essential part of the company's revenue comes from the giant ACG oil field complex and Shah Deniz gas field . In September 1994, SOCAR entered into a Production sharing agreement (PSA) 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 . Two years later Shah Deniz PSA

5750-545: The Azerbaijani segment of the Caspian Sea . It operates the country's only oil refinery, one gas processing plant and runs several oil and gas export pipelines throughout the country. It owns fuel filling station networks under the SOCAR brand in Azerbaijan , Turkey , Georgia , Ukraine , Romania , Switzerland , and Austria . SOCAR is a major source of income for the authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan . The company

5865-417: The Azeri Central East (ACE) platform, which is planned to be built on the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli (ACG) block, has been adopted at the signing ceremony. The construction is scheduled to start in 2019, and the completion is scheduled for mid-2022. In the first quarter of 2024 production was 339,000 barrels per day (53,900 m/d), approximately one-third of peak value. The founding consortium formed to develop

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5980-444: The Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli is the third-largest oil-field development out of 20 listed. Total investment was estimated at US$ 20 billion as of 2009. As of 2008 reports, oil from the ACG fields accounted for approximately 80% of Azerbaijan's total oil production (exports and domestic consumption) and was expected to bring Azerbaijan potentially $ 80 billion in profits. Exploitation of the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli development started at

6095-467: The Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli project initially included BP , Amoco , Unocal , Statoil , McDermott , Turkish Petroleum, and Ramco Energy. Lukoil sold its share in the project in 2003 to Inpex for $ 1.354 billion. On 23 November 2009, Devon Energy announced it would sell its share in ACG. On 29 March 2013, Hess sold its stake to ONGC for $ 1 billion. In April 2020, Chevron sold all of its interest in Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli, including interests in

6210-592: The Bundestag Marcus Held . Two SOCAR subsidiaries embezzled $ 1.7 billion as part of a contract with BP to expand its operations in the Shah Deniz gas field. The embezzled funds were supposed to go Azerbaijan's public coffers. SOCAR is also part of corruption revelations that led to the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017. SOCAR's Maltese chief

6325-603: The Caspian Sea. Opening ceremony of Star Oil Refinery was held on 19 October in İzmir , Turkey with the participation of Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan . Since the beginning of the project, US$ 1 392.8 million has been allocated to finance the Azerbaijani share on the STAR project within the framework of the SOFAZ's budget execution. On 15 July 2021, SOCAR signed a cooperation agreement with Technip Energies involving

6440-455: The Earth's surface. Unusual magma intrusions, however, could have created greater localized heating. Geologists often refer to the temperature range in which oil forms as an "oil window" . Below the minimum temperature oil remains trapped in the form of kerogen. Above the maximum temperature the oil is converted to natural gas through the process of thermal cracking . Sometimes, oil formed at extreme depths may migrate and become trapped at

6555-583: The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In December 2005, the former head of the Baku Oil Refinery and a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, Rovnag Abdullayev , was appointed President of SOCAR. He replaced Natig Aliyev , who was named Azerbaijan's Minister of Industry and Energy . On the 21st of July 2022, Rovshan Najaf was appointed President of State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, SOCAR. The Azerbaijan government adopted for

6670-536: The Soviet Union included the goal to capture the Baku oilfields , as it would provide much-needed oil supplies for the German military which was suffering from blockades. Oil exploration in North America during the early 20th century later led to the U.S. becoming the leading producer by mid-century. As petroleum production in the U.S. peaked during the 1960s, the United States was surpassed by Saudi Arabia and

6785-471: The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), together with BP, Chevron, INPEX, Statoil, ExxonMobil, TP, ITOCHU and ONGC Videsh have signed an agreement to extend the PSA for ACG fields until 2049. On April 19, 2019, SOCAR president Rovnag Abdullayev and BP ’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia , and Turkey , Garry Johns signed a contract cost $ 6 billion. The final investment decision on

6900-576: The United States became the world's largest producer. About 80 percent of the world's readily accessible reserves are located in the Middle East , with 62.5 percent coming from the Arab five: Saudi Arabia , United Arab Emirates , Iraq , Qatar , and Kuwait . A large portion of the world's total oil exists as unconventional sources, such as bitumen in Athabasca oil sands and extra heavy oil in

7015-436: The United States to disguise the origin of the funds. Members of Congress participating in the trip later stated that they had not known that the trip had been funded by SOCAR. SOCAR itself stated that its sponsorship had never been a secret. In 2017, it became known that SOCAR had made illegal payments totaling 28,000 euros to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany district association in Frankfurt in 2012. By accepting

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7130-474: The acquisition SOCAR became the owner of a network of more than 160 filling stations operating under the brand name Esso across the country. The first SOCAR premium fueling station in Switzerland after the rebranding was opened in September 2012 in Zürich . All the operations in Switzerland are managed and led by SOCAR Energy Switzerland. In 2021, plans were announced that Alpiq , EW Hofe and SOCAR Energy Switzerland will be building an electrolysis plant in

7245-450: The air at a recorded rate of 480 cubic metres (3,000 bbl) per day. By the end of the 19th century the Russian Empire, particularly the Branobel company in Azerbaijan , had taken the lead in production. Access to oil was and still is a major factor in several military conflicts of the 20th century, including World War II , during which oil facilities were a major strategic asset and were extensively bombed . The German invasion of

7360-434: The area around modern Baku , Azerbaijan . These fields were described by the Persian geographer Abu Bakr al-Razi in the 10th century, and by Marco Polo in the 13th century, who described the output of those wells as hundreds of shiploads. Arab and Persian chemists also distilled crude oil to produce flammable products for military purposes. Through Islamic Spain , distillation became available in Western Europe by

7475-550: The beginning of 1990s. In January 1991, the Azerbaijani government announced separate international tenders of exploration rights for Azeri, Chirag, and Gunashli fields. In June 1991, a consortium of Amoco , Unocal , British Petroleum , Statoil , McDermott , and Ramco was formed for a development of Azeri field. Azerbaijan was represented in the consortium by SOCAR . Negotiations were expanded to include all three fields. After Heydar Aliyev became President of Azerbaijan in 1993 , talks with foreign companies were stopped and Lukoil

7590-612: The brand name SOCAR since 2010. It is the third-largest network of retail stations in Azerbaijan after Azpetrol and Lukoil . In 2011, the first retail station of SOCAR was opened in Ukraine . In October 2014, the number of the SOCAR stations in Ukraine reached 40. In 2011, the company entered into the Romanian market, acquiring initially 90% and at a later stage the rest 10% of the stake in Romtranspetrol. In September 2014, SOCAR launched its 30th filling station in Romania . In November 2011, SOCAR bought ExxonMobil 's Swiss subsidiary Esso Schweiz for an undisclosed amount. Along with

7705-474: The coal industry dominated the petroleum technologies. Chemist James Young in 1847 noticed a natural petroleum seepage in the coal mine at riddings Alfreton , Derbyshire from which he distilled a light thin oil suitable for use as lamp oil, at the same time obtaining a more viscous oil suitable for lubricating machinery. In 1848, Young set up a small business refining crude oil. Young eventually succeeded, by distilling cannel coal at low heat, in creating

7820-467: The company under the brand name SOCAR was opened in neighboring Georgia in 2008, before any in its home country. The fuel stations in Georgia are operated by the subsidiary of the company SOCAR Georgia Petroleum. As of 2014, there were currently more than 110 filling stations in Georgia making it the largest retail fuel station network of SOCAR. In Azerbaijan, the company operates a few (less than any other country where it operates) filling stations under

7935-662: The country that April. This is the first time since 2016 that another company will be supplying Rosneft products to Ukraine. According to BM Georgia, the supply agreement will provide SOCAR with an additional 100,000 tons of diesel fuel and 12,000 tons of LPG. SOCAR has two oil refineries and one gas processing plant. Azerneftyagh Oil Refinery specializes in the production of fuels and oils, producing gasoline, kerosene and diesel distillates, various oils (industrial, motor, transformer etc.) and asphalt. All fuel distillates produced there are sent to Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery for redistillation. The refinery processes 21 out of 24 grades of

8050-406: The country; Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC) and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP). The pipelines deliver the ACG and Shah Deniz hydrocarbons from Sangachal Terminal located in 45 km south of Baku to Turkey and Europe. They pass through the borders of three countries: Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The share of SOCAR in the BTC and SCP is 25% and 16.7% respectively. In addition, SOCAR

8165-402: The country’s oilfields, Norway based Equinor announced it was selling its assets in Azerbaijan to SOCAR. The sale includes an 8.7% interest in the Baku Tbilisi Ceychan pipeline , used to pump oil to Turkey’s Western coast, a 7.27% interest in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oilfield , and a 50% stake in the Karabakh oilfield . SOCAR has a share in two parallel-running major export pipelines of

8280-541: The decree of then president Abulfaz Elchibey . In 1994, the Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Production Association were established as part of the State Oil Company. In 2003, the Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Production Association were merged to form the Azneft Production Union. On July 21, 2022, Rovshan Najaf was appointed as the President of SOCAR as based on the decree issued by Ilham Aliyev,

8395-614: The donations, the party violated the Political Parties Act, as corporate donations from non-EU countries are prohibited. The case led to a years-long legal dispute with the Bundestag administration, of which the public did not learn. In 2018, it became known that SOCAR paid a controversial donation of 3,000 euros to the German sports club "TuS Dexheim" in 2014. The donation was organized by the then-mayor of Oppenheim and former Social Democratic Party of Germany member of

8510-573: The earliest Chinese writings, cites that oil in its raw state, without refining, was first discovered, extracted, and used in China in the first century BCE. In addition, the Chinese were the first to record the use of petroleum as fuel as early as the fourth century BCE. By 347 CE, oil was produced from bamboo-drilled wells in China. In the 7th century, petroleum was among the essential ingredients for Greek fire , an incendiary projectile weapon that

8625-469: The environment and human health. Extraction , refining and burning of petroleum fuels all release large quantities of greenhouse gases , so petroleum is one of the major contributors to climate change . Other negative environmental effects include direct releases, such as oil spills , as well as air and water pollution at almost all stages of use. These environmental effects have direct and indirect health consequences for humans. Oil has also been

8740-492: The export of one product—usually oil or gas—weakens the rest of the economy." According to De Waal, the oil wealth had enriched political and economic elites in Azerbaijan, along with underspending of the oil riches on long-term development. 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. SOCAR's exploration activities cover

8855-722: The export routes, construction of the Baku–Supsa Pipeline was agreed in 1996. The pipeline became operational in 1998 and was officially inaugurated in 1999. At the Chirag field, the water injection project was implemented in 1999 and the drilling technology was upgraded in 2000. The second stage of the development consisted of the development of the Azeri field. The development of Azeri field started in 2002. Central Azeri living quarters arrived in Baku in July 2003 and drilling modules arrived in Baku in July 2003. The Central Azeri jacket

8970-425: The fact that it happened at relatively low temperatures (when compared to commercial pyrolysis plants) of 60 to several hundred °C. Pyrolysis was possible because of the long reaction times involved. Heat for catagenesis came from the decomposition of radioactive materials of the crust, especially K , Th , U and U . The heat varied with geothermal gradient and was typically 10–30 °C per km of depth from

9085-423: The fact that oil discoveries had peaked." Menaldo wrote in 2016, "the days in which the Azerbaijani state can offset its underlying weakness by drilling its way out of trouble are numbered... Whether Azerbaijan can now transition to a more diversified economy is an open question." Thomas de Waal wrote in 2018, "Azerbaijan’s economy showed classic symptoms of “Dutch Disease,” the condition whereby heavy reliance on

9200-478: The first quarter of 2024 was 339,000 barrels per day (53,900 m/d), having substantially declined from the peak output in 2010 of 835,000 barrels per day (132,800 m/d). The oil from the ACG complex was pumped to Sangachal terminal south of Baku and from there routed to foreign markets by Baku-Supsa pipeline , Baku–Novorossiysk pipeline and Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline . An interactive map shows all current export routes. Crude oil Petroleum

9315-860: The first three quarters of 2009, over 224 million barrels (35.6 × 10 ^  m) of oil were produced from the Chirag, Central Azeri, West Azeri, East Azeri and Deep Water Gunashli platforms. As per BP's report, Chirag had 19 wells in operation (13 of which are oil producers and 6 - water injectors) with an overall production of 105,300 bbl/d (16,740 m/d). Central Azeri (CA) had 18 wells (13 of which are oil producers and 5 - gas injectors) with production of 185,800 bbl/d (29,540 m/d). West Azeri (WA) had 18 wells in operation (14 of which are oil producers and 4 - water injectors with production of 275,200 barrels per day (43,750 m/d). East Azeri (EA) had 13 wells in operation (9 of which are oil producers and 4 - water injectors) with an overall production 139,400 barrels per day (22,160 m/d) for

9430-554: The first three quarters of 2009. Deep Water Gunashli (DWG) had 17 wells (9 oil producers and 8 water injectors) in operation with production of 116,400 barrels per day (18,510 m/d) of oil. Oil depletion rates of each of the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli reservoirs are expected to differ over time, with aggregate output from the complex declining substantially after 2018. Azerbaijan also gets approximately 10–11 million cubic metres (350–390 million cubic feet) of casing head gas per day extracted from ACG block. The gas

9545-815: The global economy. They led to sustained reductions in demand as a result of substitution to other fuels, especially coal and nuclear, and improvements in energy efficiency , facilitated by government policies. High oil prices also induced investment in oil production by non-OPEC countries, including Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, the North Sea offshore fields of the United Kingdom and Norway, the Cantarell offshore field of Mexico, and oil sands in Canada. About 90 percent of vehicular fuel needs are met by oil. Petroleum also makes up 40 percent of total energy consumption in

9660-408: The heavier end of the range, paraffin wax is an alkane with approximately 25 carbon atoms, while asphalt has 35 and up, although these are usually cracked in modern refineries into more valuable products. The lightest fraction, the so-called petroleum gases are subjected to diverse processing depending on cost. These gases are either flared off , sold as liquefied petroleum gas , or used to power

9775-658: The invention of the modern kerosene lamp (1853), the introduction of the first modern street lamp in Europe (1853), and the construction of the world's first modern oil "mine" (1854). at Bóbrka , near Krosno (still operational as of 2020). The demand for petroleum as a fuel for lighting in North America and around the world quickly grew. The first oil well in the Americas was drilled in 1859 by Edwin Drake at what

9890-404: The investigative research of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Latvian authorities were able to force Swiss banks to release banking information about SOCAR in connection with the investigation of an international money laundering scandal. In 2020, SOCAR came under criticism after it publicly engaged in war propaganda against Armenia on behalf of the Azerbaijani government during

10005-446: The large number of co-eluted hydrocarbons within oil, many cannot be resolved by traditional gas chromatography. This unresolved complex mixture (UCM) of hydrocarbons is particularly apparent when analysing weathered oils and extracts from tissues of organisms exposed to oil. Crude oil varies greatly in appearance depending on its composition. It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish, reddish, or even greenish). In

10120-468: The living quarters at Oil Rocks fell into the sea due to a heavy storm. At the same day, seven workers were killed, 23 reported missing, and 33 were rescued and evacuated when a fire broke out on the platform No. 10 at the western section of the Gunashli oilfield . (As of January 2016, a total of 10 bodies have been found, leaving 20 people unaccounted for.) SOCAR is often associated with

10235-411: The lower regions. As a consequence, compounds of this mixture began to combine in poorly understood ways to kerogen . Combination happened in a similar fashion as phenol and formaldehyde molecules react to urea-formaldehyde resins, but kerogen formation occurred in a more complex manner due to a bigger variety of reactants. The total process of kerogen formation from the beginning of anaerobic decay

10350-899: The matter to H 2 S and N 2 respectively by using the matter as a source for other reactants. Due to such anaerobic bacteria, at first, this matter began to break apart mostly via hydrolysis : polysaccharides and proteins were hydrolyzed to simple sugars and amino acids respectively. These were further anaerobically oxidized at an accelerated rate by the enzymes of the bacteria: e.g., amino acids went through oxidative deamination to imino acids , which in turn reacted further to ammonia and α-keto acids . Monosaccharides in turn ultimately decayed to CO 2 and methane . The anaerobic decay products of amino acids, monosaccharides, phenols and aldehydes combined into fulvic acids . Fats and waxes were not extensively hydrolyzed under these mild conditions. Some phenolic compounds produced from previous reactions worked as bactericides and

10465-835: The platform launched in May 2005. The platform's topsides was installed in September 2005 and production started in January 2006. East Azeri drilling modules and quarters arrived in Baku in June 2005 and the platform was launched in March 2006. The topside was installed in March 2006 and the production began in October 2006. The Deepwater Gunashli pre-drilling program started in December 2005. Drilling modules and quarters arrived in Baku in June 2006. The platform became operational in April 2008. On September 14, 2017, The Azerbaijan Government and

10580-556: The proportion of chemical elements varies over fairly narrow limits as follows: Four different types of hydrocarbon appear in crude oil. The relative percentage of each varies from oil to oil, determining the properties of each oil. The alkanes from pentane (C 5 H 12 ) to octane (C 8 H 18 ) are refined into gasoline, the ones from nonane (C 9 H 20 ) to hexadecane (C 16 H 34 ) into diesel fuel , kerosene and jet fuel . Alkanes with more than 16 carbon atoms can be refined into fuel oil and lubricating oil . At

10695-402: The prospective offshore fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The current largest fields being explored are Shafag-Asiman , which is explored with BP, and Absheron natural gas fields which are being explored together with BP and TotalEnergies respectively. In 2010, SOCAR and BP signed a new production sharing agreement regarding Shafag-Asiman. In 2014, SOCAR and BP signed

10810-644: The refinery's own burners. During the winter, butane (C 4 H 10 ), is blended into the gasoline pool at high rates, because its high vapour pressure assists with cold starts. The aromatic hydrocarbons are unsaturated hydrocarbons that have one or more benzene rings . They tend to burn with a sooty flame, and many have a sweet aroma. Some are carcinogenic . These different components are separated by fractional distillation at an oil refinery to produce gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, and other hydrocarbon fractions. The components in an oil sample can be determined by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry . Due to

10925-739: The relatively low-capacity Baku-Supsa Pipeline and Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline . The Azerbaijani part of the Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline is operated by SOCAR, whereas Baku-Supsa Pipeline's operator is BP . Moreover, SOCAR operates Dubendi Oil Terminal in Azerbaijan and Kulevi Oil Terminal in Georgia, which are important for transportation and export. An additional supply contract was signed in May 2021, with Russia's Rosneft , to start supplying Ukraine and other countries with oil products and LPG. This came about after Swiss trader Proton Energy suspended shipments of Russian diesel to

11040-412: The reservoir it is usually found in association with natural gas, which being lighter forms a "gas cap" over the petroleum, and saline water which, being heavier than most forms of crude oil, generally sinks beneath it. Crude oil may also be found in a semi-solid form mixed with sand and water, as in the Athabasca oil sands in Canada, where it is usually referred to as crude bitumen . In Canada, bitumen

11155-518: The same time the world's first, small, oil refinery was opened at Jasło in Poland (then Austria), with a larger one opened at Ploiești in Romania shortly after. Romania (then being a vassal of the Ottoman empire) is the first country in the world to have had its annual crude oil output officially recorded in international statistics: 275 tonnes for 1857. In 1858, Georg Christian Konrad Hunäus found

11270-523: The second half of the 19th century, the term became commonly known for the liquid form of hydrocarbons. Petroleum, in one form or another, has been used since ancient times. More than 4300 years ago, bitumen was mentioned when the Sumerians used it to make boats. A tablet of the legend of the birth of Sargon of Akkad mentions a basket which was closed by straw and bitumen. More than 4000 years ago, according to Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus , asphalt

11385-665: The sedimentary basin , and characterization of the petroleum reservoir . There are also unconventional reserves such as oil sands and oil shale which are recovered by other means such as fracking . Once extracted, oil is refined and separated, most easily by distillation , into innumerable products for direct use or use in manufacturing. Products include fuels such as gasoline (petrol), diesel , kerosene and jet fuel ; asphalt and lubricants ; chemical reagents used to make plastics ; solvents , textiles , refrigerants , paint , synthetic rubber , fertilizers , pesticides , pharmaceuticals , and thousands of others. Petroleum

11500-408: The term stems from monasteries in southern Italy where it was in use by the end of the first millennium as an alternative for the older term " naphtha ". After that, the term was used in numerous manuscripts and books, such as in the treatise De Natura Fossilium , published in 1546 by the German mineralogist Georg Bauer , also known as Georgius Agricola. After the advent of the oil industry, during

11615-622: The territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Union has also been ensuring transportation of natural gas produced by SOCAR to the Islamic Republic of Iran , Georgia and the Russian Federation . Main directions of SOCAR Georgia Gas activity comprise import into the Georgian market and sale of natural gas, as well as construction and rehabilitation of gas pipelines. In 2010, the company was honoured with 'Best Company of

11730-539: The title of E.W. Binney & Co. at Bathgate in West Lothian and E. Meldrum & Co. at Glasgow; their works at Bathgate were completed in 1851 and became the first truly commercial oil-works in the world with the first modern oil refinery. The world's first oil refinery was built in 1856 by Ignacy Łukasiewicz in Austria. His achievements also included the discovery of how to distill kerosene from seep oil,

11845-528: The total amount of bribes reached 11 million dollars. According to a confidential ethics report, in 2013 SOCAR secretly funded a trip to a conference in Baku for 10 U.S. members of Congress and 32 of their staff. Three former senior advisers to then-President Barack Obama appeared as speakers at the event. The congressmen and their staff had their travel expenses and luxury gifts paid for by SOCAR worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. SOCAR allegedly funneled $ 750,000 in funds through nonprofit companies based in

11960-468: The volume of the world's reserves of conventional oil. Petroleum is a fossil fuel derived from fossilized organic materials , such as zooplankton and algae . Vast amounts of these remains settled to sea or lake bottoms where they were covered in stagnant water (water with no dissolved oxygen ) or sediments such as mud and silt faster than they could decompose aerobically . Approximately 1 m below this sediment, water oxygen concentration

12075-630: The widespread corruption in Azerbaijan. In a 2011 survey by Transparency International concerning the anti-corruption practices of 44 oil companies, SOCAR ranked last. Frank Schwabe , a member of the German Bundestag and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , sees SOCAR as a "central steering instrument for the foreign policy and sports policy of the authoritarian president of Azerbaijan." SOCAR

12190-513: The year' for active participation in 'Gas provision of all villages' program of the Georgian President . Baku Shipyard LLC joint venture was founded on 10 May 2011 under the laws of Republic of Azerbaijan, by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) owning 65%, Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) 25%, and Keppel Offshore Marine (KOM) 10%, has developed and put into operation the most modern shipbuilding and ship-repair facility in

12305-583: Was activity in various parts of the world in the mid-19th century. A group directed by Major Alexeyev of the Bakinskii Corps of Mining Engineers hand-drilled a well in the Baku region of Bibi-Heybat in 1846. There were engine-drilled wells in West Virginia in the same year as Drake's well. An early commercial well was hand dug in Poland in 1853, and another in nearby Romania in 1857. At around

12420-414: Was closed off from external reactants, the resulting composition of the fuel mixture was dependent on the composition of the kerogen via reaction stoichiometry . Three types of kerogen exist: type I (algal), II (liptinic) and III (humic), which were formed mainly from algae , plankton and woody plants (this term includes trees , shrubs and lianas ) respectively. Catagenesis was pyrolytic despite

12535-740: Was completed in March 2004. To accommodate addition oil, the Sangachal Terminal was upgraded in March 2003. After installing the Central Azeri gas pipeline, the Central Azeri platform was launched in July 2004. The platform was installed by October 2004, and production started in February 2005. The Central Azeri compression and water injection platform topsides was launched in July 2005. It injected first gas in May 2006 The West Azeri drilling modules arrived in Baku in August 2004 and

12650-407: Was invited to the consortium. Negotiations resumed in 1994. The production sharing agreement (PSA) was signed by the parties on 20 September 1994 for development of the fields for 30 years. The day of the signing of PSA agreement is celebrated as The Day of Oilworkers in Azerbaijan. At the first stage, the consortium started development drilling of the Chirag field in August 1997. First oil

12765-423: Was low, below 0.1 mg/L, and anoxic conditions existed. Temperatures also remained constant. As further layers settled into the sea or lake bed, intense heat and pressure built up in the lower regions. This process caused the organic matter to change, first into a waxy material known as kerogen , found in various oil shales around the world, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons via

12880-645: Was produced in November 1997. This development stage was also known as the Early Oil Project (EOP) . Originally, produced oil was exported through the Baku–Novorossiysk pipeline . A contract on the oil transportation via Russia to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk was signed on 18 February 1996. The oil transportation through the pipeline started on 25 October 1997. For the diversification of

12995-589: Was signed. As of 2014, SOCAR holds 11.6% of the ACG shares and 16.7% of the Shah Deniz shares. Moreover, SOCAR operates a number of onshore fields on its own which is the main source of the domestic supply.. In 2013,, 43.48 million tons (318.74 million barrels) of oil was produced in Azerbaijan, of which 8.31 million tons (60.95 million barrels) belong to SOCAR. In the same period, Azerbaijan's natural gas production reached record high of 29.46 billion cubic metre of which SOCAR shares constitute 7.14 billion cubic metre of it. On 22 December 2023, after 30 years operating in

13110-479: Was used by Byzantine Greeks against Arab ships, which were then attacking Constantinople . Crude oil was also distilled by Persian chemists , with clear descriptions given in Arabic handbooks such as those of Abu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes). The streets of Baghdad were paved with tar , derived from petroleum that became accessible from natural fields in the region. In the 9th century, oil fields were exploited in

13225-544: Was used in the construction of the walls and towers of Babylon ; there were oil pits near Ardericca and Babylon, and a pitch spring on Zakynthos . Great quantities of it were found on the banks of the river Issus , one of the tributaries of the Euphrates . Ancient Persian tablets indicate the medicinal and lighting uses of petroleum in the upper levels of their society. The use of petroleum in ancient China dates back to more than 2000 years ago. The I Ching , one of

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