BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 29. SOCAR this week shared the results of its activities for 2023, Trend reports.
Meanwhile, it became known that SOCAR's operating profit decreased from 9.3 billion manat ($5.4 billion) in 2022 to 2.1 billion manat ($1.2 billion) in 2023.
SOCAR's current assets in 2023 decreased by 31.4 percent compared to 2022 and amounted to 22.9 billion manat ($13.4 billion). At the same time, the company's total current assets for 2023 amounted to 33.4 billion manat ($19.6 billion). Non-current assets increased from 47.4 billion manat ($27.8 billion) to 49 billion manat ($28.8 billion) from 47.4 billion manat ($27.8 billion), up 3.4 percent year-on-year. Total assets decreased from 80.8 billion manat ($47.5 billion) in 2022 to 71.9 billion manat ($42.2 billion) in 2023, or by almost 11 percent.
Furthermore, it became known that SOCAR's total current liabilities as of December 31, 2023, amounted to 19.5 billion manat ($11.4 billion) against 28.9 billion manat ($16.9 billion) in 2022.
In addition, it was announced this week that the STAR oil refinery (refinery) in Turkey of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) was ranked among the top 3 largest enterprises in Türkiye in 2023 by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO).
According to information, SOCAR's STAR refinery in Türkiye may be shut down for a short period of planned preventive maintenance (6–9 days) in the second half of 2024.
SOCAR President Rovshan Najaf stated during Baku Investment Day (BakuID24) on June 27 that SOCAR provides demand for innovative products for startups, adding that innovative products are always oriented to the buyers' market and can help any company, including SOCAR, to work faster, cheaper, and more efficiently.
Also, it became known that SOCAR representatives plan to take part in the ONS 2024 conference, which will be held on August 26–29 in the Norwegian city of Stavanger and on October 8–11 in the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum (PMGF-2024).
The Global Petrol Prices portal announced this week that Azerbaijan is among the countries with the most affordable gasoline price ($0,588 per liter). The country with the cheapest gasoline is Iran ($0,029 per liter), and the most expensive gasoline is Hong Kong ($3,238 per liter).
Türkiye's Energy Market Regulatory Board (EPDK) approved the applications of BOTAS and SOCAR Enerji Ticaret A.S. ("subsidiary" of SOCAR) for capacity reservation for spot gas supplies to Türkiye in July. In total, both companies were entitled to reserve capacity in Turkey's gas distribution networks of 8.839 million cubic meters of gas per day (as in June), of which Turkish BOTAS reserved capacity for daily deliveries of 7.839 million cubic meters of gas and SOCAR Enerji Ticaret A.S. - 1 million cubic meters per day (in June - 1.863 million cubic meters per day).
Independent gas transmission operator ICGB announced this week that it will hold annual auctions for the available capacity of the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector (IGB) on July 1, and volumes will be offered for five gas years (October to October is the gas year), with capacity depending on connection points to Bulgarian operator Bulgargartransgaz, Greece's DEFSA, and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) networks, respectively.
SOCAR will supply 500 million cubic meters of gas to the Balkan Gas Hub (located in Bulgaria) in 2024, an informed source told Trend this week. SOCAR has been supplying its gas to the hub (outside contracts) since 2023, transporting it through Türkiye.
SOCAR started supplying gas to Bulgarian industrial facilities in June; in particular, it was supplied to Bulgarian company ELBAT, one of the largest enterprises in Europe, for processing various types of waste containing lead as well as renovating lead batteries.
The largest buyer of Azerbaijani gas in Europe is Italy. It became known today that the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) has transported 30.8 bcm of Azerbaijani gas to Italy since the beginning of its commercial operation (from December 31, 2020), of which 2.45 bcm will be transported in the second quarter of 2024.
This year, for the first time, Serbia started to receive Azerbaijani gas, which received about 17 million cubic meters of natural gas from Azerbaijan in the first half of 2024 (data from the State Statistics Committee (SSC) of Azerbaijan).
MVM Group signed a sale and purchase agreement with Southern Gas Corridor CJSC (representing the interests of Azerbaijan) on June 5, 2024, to acquire a 5 percent stake in the Production Sharing Agreement of Shah Deniz offshore gas condensate field and a 4 percent stake in Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company Limited (which sells natural gas from Shah Deniz). According to Károly Mátrai, CEO of Hungary's MVM Group, the deal will be legally finalized in the third quarter of 2024 and has become one of the largest acquisitions in MVM's history. He emphasized that the deal contributes to the progress of the company's new strategy, under which the most important element is the diversification of gas supplies.
Furthermore, BOTAS International Ltd. stated this week that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline transported 91.236 million barrels of oil through Türkiye from January through May 2024, which is 3 percent less than the same period in 2023.
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