Saudi Arabia shows interest in local market

AMinister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia Khalid Al-Falih made the remarks at a meeting with Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, who is on an official visit to the country.

Shahbazov also met with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The level of relations between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, which are based on centuries-old historical and cultural roots, were highly appreciated during the meeting.

It was noted that a strong ground has been created for cooperation in all spheres and the parties expressed interest in expanding cooperation in all areas, including in the energy sector.

Further, the Azerbaijani minister met with CEO of Saudi Aramco Amin Nasser.

The meeting’s participants discussed the possibility of implementing joint projects in third countries by Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and Saudi Aramco.

Moreover, Minister Shahbazov visited a number of infrastructure facilities, oil fields of Saudi Arabia and held several meetings.

Saudi Aramco is the stateowned oil company of Saudi Arabia and a fully integrated, global petroleum and chemicals enterprise. Over the past 80 years it has become a world leader in hydrocarbons exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing.

Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was established on February 24, 1992. Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991.

Over the past years, there were numerous visits to different areas of both countries. In recent years, economic relations with the increased interest in investment strengthened and expanded. Delegation of businessmen and managers of large Saudi Arabian’s companies repeatedly have visited Azerbaijan.

So far, 14 agreements have been signed between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia. In the near future, eight new agreements are expected to be sign. In this regard, there is no doubt that bilateral political, economic and cultural relations will continue to develop.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia for January-June of 2017 amounted to $6.05 million, increased by 25.9 percent, as compared to the same period of 2016, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

SOCAR Capital reported that today, $12.5 per bond transferred to the bank accounts of bondholders, which is in total amounts to $1.250 million.

In 2017, investors earned $5 million on SOCAR bonds. This is the fifth payment of interest.

SOCAR issued dollar bonds with a volume of $100 million in September 2016. The period of their circulation is five years, and the rate is 5 percent. In the secondary market, trades on the bonds of SOCAR began on October 17, 2016.

The nominal value of the bonds is $1,000 and the annual yield of each bond is $50, which makes these bonds the most profitable in the financial market.

SOCAR bonds on the secondary market along with Azerbaijani citizens can be purchased by foreign individuals and legal entities. Over the past period, foreign investors have been interested in these securities.

Another factor that increases investor interest in SOCAR's bonds is high liquidity and a guarantee that the value of bonds will never fall below $1,000 and they can always be converted into cash currency.

SOCAR is a wholly state-owned national oil company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and offshore fields in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea.

The company includes such production associations as Azneft (the enterprises producing oil and gas onshore and offshore), Azerikimya (the chemical enterprises) and Azerigas (distributor of gas produced in the country), as well as oil and gas processing plants, service companies, and the facilities involved in geophysical and drilling operations.