Pakistan and Azerbaijan will constitute a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Energy to boost up cooperation in the field of oil and gas sector. Azerbaijan is interested in investing in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector through State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). The two sides had entered an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) in February 2017 for supply of a number of oil and gas products, including furnace oil, petrol, diesel and LNG.
Both the countries are now expected to formally sign a commercial agreement in February during the scheduled visit of Azerbaijan foreign minister to Islamabad. In this respect, Azerbaijani Ambassador Ali Alizada met Federal Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan here at Petroleum Division on Wednesday.
Sarwar Khan assured the diplomat that the Petroleum Division will try its best to get this agreement ratified from Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and the federal cabinet so that mutual relation between both countries can be strengthened. The ambassador said that SOCAR's activities include exploration of oil and gas, production, processing and transportation of oil, natural gas and gas condensate as well as marketing of petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets.
The company operates a wide network of petrol stations in Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, Switzerland and Azerbaijan under its brand name. Azerbaijan's daily production of crude oil is approximately 860,000 barrels per day (bpd) and its annual gas production is approximately 29.4 billion cubic feet. This makes SOCAR a predominant player in its core region as well as an invaluable trade partner in the global market.