SOCAR, Uniper agree on cooperation program for 2020

By Azernews

By Leman Mammadova

Azerbaijani State Oil Company SOCAR’s is collaborating with German energy provider Uniper to improve the efficiency of oil and gas production in Azerbaijan.

The companies signed a cooperation program for 2020 following the 6th SOCAR-Uniper Coordination Committee Meeting held in Tegernsee, Germany, on October 17, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Berlin reports.

The meeting was attended by a delegation led by SOCAR’s Vice-President Khalik Mammadov and Uniper executives. Azerbaijani Ambassador to Germany Ramin Hasanov also attended the meeting.

Khalik Mammadova noted SOCAR's activities in Azerbaijan and in international markets, including international cooperation, and projects carried out at regional and global levels.

Uwe Fip, Senior Vice President of Uniper, pointed to the current situation in the global energy markets and spoke about the company's international activities.

Vitaliy Baylarbayov, Deputy Vice President of SOCAR, informed about the Southern Gas Corridor project, its current state and the work being done in this direction.

The sides discussed plans for joint work, including the modernization of petrochemical enterprises of the Azerikimya Production Union (PU), improving the knowledge and skills of SOCAR employees, etc.

Following the meeting, the parties signed a cooperation program for 2020.

Uniper and Azerbaijan state oil company SOCAR have been working in close cooperation for the past five years.

German energy provider Uniper is one of the buyers of Azerbaijani gas in the framework of the Shah Deniz-2 project. The company will purchase 1.5 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas annually for 25 years (a total of 40 billion cubic meters) under the agreement.

Since January 1, 2016, Uniper had a spin-off with German E.ON company, which was one of the nine European companies that signed an agreement with Shah Deniz consortium in September 2013 on purchasing Azerbaijani gas. The gas trading business is now in the responsibility of Uniper.

As of August 2018, the companies signed new agreement in the field of oil and gas production, energy efficiency, use of new technologies, optimization of energy consumption and reduction of carbon emissions.

SOCAR and Uniper established a joint venture for the development of energy efficiency in 2016. SOCAR-Uniper joint venture manufactures a steam turbine generator. SOCAR's share in the joint venture is 51 percent, UNIPER – 49 percent. The joint venture conducts modernization based on German technologies at the Azerikimya PU’s enterprises.