SOCAR Trading was established in 2007 to carry out the sale of SOCAR’s crude oil through the Ceyhan port of Türkiye. Later the company diversified its activity and began to realise third party oil and oil products, as well as facilitate SOCAR’s international investments in logistics, refining and sales.
In 2008, the company completed the trading of the first cargo of Azeri Light oil, produced under the Contract of the Century, through the Ceyhan port. Along with crude oil transported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the company, together with BP, implements the sale of oil transported via the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline. It organises the trading of Azeri Light oil, naphtha, petrol, natural gas (LNG), liquefied gas (LPG), gasoil, condensates, ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel and third party crude oil as well.
SOCAR Trading managed to create a fleet of more than 30 tankers to deliver large volumes of oil and oil products to customers. In 2017, the company expanded its fleet by purchasing 7 modern tankers (two Suezmax and 5 Aframax tankers) for the transportation of oil and oil products.
SOCAR Trading opened its offices in Singapore (2009) and London (2015) to expand its global activity. Now the company has its trading offices in Geneva, London, Singapore, Dubai and Houston with 200 staff members in total. In addition, the company also opened representative offices in Cairo, Istanbul, Lagos, Monaco and Moscow.
SOCAR Trading is also closely involved in the implementation of SOCAR’s global projects. In addition, the company is one of the major shareholders of ElectroGas Malta, along with Siemens and GEM Holding. In 2013, SOCAR won the tender as part of this consortium. In general, the ElectroGas Malta consortium is implementing infrastructure improvement projects in the country, examples include the gas terminal, which opened in April 2017, and the €500 million Delimara power plant. The Delimara power plant, in addition to generating electricity in Malta, has increased the country’s electricity generation efficiency by 53%. In addition, it was possible to reduce the cost of electricity by 25% and the volume of hazardous waste by 90%. ElectroGas Malta supplies natural gas and electricity to the Maltese state company Enemalta.
Over the past few years, SOCAR Trading has expanded its global operations by concluding agreements with organisations in Europe, Asia, Africa, the CIS and a number of countries in the Mediterranean. The company is closely involved in projects in the region, working closely with countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Moreover, SOCAR Trading is actively involved in projects on the African continent. In Côte d’Ivoire, negotiations are underway with the government to build a terminal for the re-gasification of liquefied natural gas. In addition, it participated in the construction of an oil terminal in Cotonou, Benin.
On the Asian continent, SOCAR Trading works closely with the State Oil Company of Pakistan, participating in its bidding processes. SOCAR Trading is currently involved in the marketing of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in Pakistan. As of 2017, the company has started working closely with Pertamina of Indonesia, the largest country in Southeast Asia, successfully trading in the LNG market. Close cooperation has also been established with Vietnam, which is developing rapidly in Southeast Asia. Thus, SOCAR Trading won a tender announced by Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co (BSR), a Vietnamese state-owned company.