Deputy Minister Discusses Challenges of Energy Transition

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), founded in September 1992, plans to diversify its project portfolio towards low-carbon initiatives by 2035, Hikmet Abdullayev, SOCAR's Deputy Vice President, said   at  a panel discussion at Baku Climate Week. "SOCAR has a clear vision of how our company will evolve from an oil and gas entity into a national energy company. We believe that by 2035, we will have a diversified portfolio that includes low-carbon projects alongside hydrocarbon extraction assets," he stated.

On October 2, British bp, SOCAR Green (a subsidiary of SOCAR), and the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) signed a Joint Participation Agreement in Baku for the construction of the 240 MW “Shafag” solar power plant in Jabrayil.

Rovshan Najaf, President of SOCAR, met with Alexander Dyukov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Gazprom Neft”, on October 2. SOCAR’s social media publication noted that the meeting involved discussions on mutually interesting issues, but did not provide further details.

Serbian company “Srbijagas” Director Dušan Bajatović stated that gas supplies from Azerbaijan cannot fully replace Russian gas imports for Serbia. "With the contract with Azerbaijan, we have shown our desire to diversify, but the problem is that Azerbaijan currently does not have such volumes of available gas. At the moment, such volumes can only be procured from Russia," Bajatović  said during a broadcast on Serbian Radio and Television (RTS).