Socar Profits Tumble in 2019

Net profits at Azerbaijan's Socar were down nearly 46% in 2019 at manats 651mn ($383mn), compared with manats 1.2bn in the previous year, the state oil company said June 30.

Operating profit climbed to manats 5.8bn from 3.6bn, while revenues dipped to manats 83.8bn from 107.8bn, the company said in an annual report audited by EY.

The value of Socar's current assets dropped slightly to manats 19.2bn from 19.3bn, while total asset value increased to manats 65.4bn from 62.1bn. Currently liabilities were down to manats 17.3bn from 17.4bn, but total liabilities were up to manats 41.1bn from 38.2bn.

Socar generates most of its revenues from selling oil from the BP-operated Azeri-Chirag-Gunashi project in the Caspian Sea and other fields, but it also earns from selling gas to Turkey from the Shah Deniz field, trading Caspian oil and producing refined products in Azerbaijan and Turkey, among other things.

But with European majors BP and Shell writing down about $40bn in their combined asset value this year as demand for oil and gas falls, much more pain is on the cards for Baku this year too.