SOCAR records no environmental violation penalty since early year

Azerbaijan’s oil giant SOCAR hasn’t been fined for environmental violations since the beginning of 2017.

Head of SOCAR Environment Department Azer Aliyev made the remarks at the 5th practical conference “Oil Spill Control Caspian: Oil Spills at Sea and on Land” on November 27 in Baku.

He said SOCAR conducts permanent environmental monitoring, adding that analysis of monitoring results of the past years is underway, dynamics are being studied, when needed, necessary measures are taken.

Further, Aliyev stressed that SOCAR plans to build a center for the liquidation of oil spills in the Caspian Sea.

He went on to say that the center will consist of three stations: “The design work is underway. One station will be located in Garadagh district, on the territory of Oil and Gas Production Department (OGPD) named after N. Narimanov, and will occupy an area of 1.5 hectares. The second station, which will occupy two hectares, will be located on the Chilov island on the “28 May” OGPD’s territory, and a third station with an area of 0.76 hectares is planned to be built on the territory of the Dubendi Oil Terminal.”

He added that in 2018, SOCAR plans to start the active phase of the project’s implementation.

“These stations will mainly deal with prevention of possible oil spills and their liquidation,” he said. “The international experience will be used when building the center. It is also planned to attract an international consultant to the project’s implementation and closely cooperate with the ministries of emergency situations, ecology and natural resources of Azerbaijan, Azercosmos OJSC and Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping CJSC.”

SOCAR is wholly owned by the government of Azerbaijan. SOCAR participates in joint ventures (including ventures in Georgia and Turkey), consortia, and operating companies established with SOCAR’s participation.

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.

Currently, SOCAR is the only producer of petroleum products in the country, and operates more than 370 petrol stations in Switzerland, Georgia, Romania and Ukraine.