The State Oil Company SOCAR

A Microcosm of Azerbaijani Development?

Author(s): Heidi Kjærnet
Editor(s): Iris Kempe, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Lili Di Puppo
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 16
Pages: 5-8
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Jefferson Institute, Washington D.C.; Heinrich Böll Foundation, Tbilisi; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen
Publication Year: 2010

Baku has not shown signs of moving towards resource nationalism, but Azerbaijan's national oil company SOCAR plays an important role in the country's petroleum sector. In addition to being partner to the international oil companies present in Azerbaijan, the company is an actor in policy formation. Close ties between the government and the company ensure that SOCAR, in addition to being one of the biggest taxpayers in Azerbaijan, also carries out political and social tasks for the government. At the same time, commercial tasks are intertwined with petroleum policy and regulation, and the Azerbaijani national petroleum sector seems to be moving in a more opaque direction.

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