Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft Company and Azerbaijan's state energy giant SOCAR have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture.

The agreement envisages the exploration and production of oil and gas in Azerbaijan, Russia and in third countries.

The document was signed by Rosneft head Igor Sechin and SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, RIA Novosti reported.

The parties agreed to establish a joint venture on a parity basis. The list of assets will be further negotiated.

Commenting on the agreement signed, Sechin and Abdullayev noted this agreement will allow starting concrete joint work for selection and implementation of large-scale projects in Siberia, the shelf of the Caspian Sea and other water areas, as well as creating opportunities for both companies to enter new markets.

Azerbaijan's energy giant SOCAR, which is keen on expanding operations in the retail oil products market abroad, is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in the domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

SOCAR produced over 8.31 million tons of oil from Azerbaijan's onshore and offshore fields in 2013, which was equal to 8.24 million tons in 2012. In total, some 43.48 million tons of oil was produced in Azerbaijan in 2013, versus 43 million tons in 2012.