SOCAR and Austria's OMV discuss partnership in energy trading

BAKU. Jan 23 (Interfax) - State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) President Rovshan Najaf has discussed prospects for developing cooperation in the energy sector, including transportation and energy trading, at a meeting with Alfred Stern, CEO of Austria's OMV, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

"We met with OMV CEO Alfred Stern. Our discussions focused on exploring potential cooperation in energy production, transportation and trading, with a focus on increasing energy security, integrating advanced technologies and accelerating the transition to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future," Najaf posted on social media.

Najaf said that the parties noted their shared commitment to decarbonization in the energy sector during the meeting.

Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, OMV is Central Europe's largest oil and gas company. OMV is currently not represented in projects in Azerbaijan. SOCAR and OMV are presently shareholders in the SARB, Umm Lulu, Bin Nasher and Al Bateel offshore concession project in the United Arab Emirates. The parties' participation interest in the project is distributed as ADNOC at 57%, OMV and TotalEnergies at 20% each, and SOCAR at 3%.

Additionally, Azerbaijan's Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov and Najaf met with BP Plc Executive Vice President for Production and Operations Gordon Birrell as part of the WEF.

"We discussed the company's active participation in the transition to green energy, efficient cooperation with our country, and diversification of areas of joint activity," Jabbarov posted on social media.

SOCAR and BP have been collaborating to develop oil and gas resources in Azerbaijan for 30 years. The UK company is a major shareholder in the project to develop the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oil block of fields (30.37%) and the Shah Deniz gas condensate field (29.99%), as well as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Southern Gas Corridor export system to Europe. BP is also a participant in the construction of a 240 MW solar power plant in the Zangezur economic region of Azerbaijan, and is actively involved in projects to decarbonize the oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan.