Eni and Socar strengthen ties during Azeri president's visit to Rome

Italy’s Eni and Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and gas company Socar have signed long-term agreements aimed at boosting Azeri exploration and production as well as decarbonisation and renewable energy projects.

Eni said the memoranda of understanding (MoU) signed in Rome during a 5 September meeting between Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi, “are in line with Eni’s decarbonisation strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050”.

The first MoU calls for the expansion of the companies' cooperation on hydrocarbon exploration and production, with the aim of strengthening the energy security of Europe, and Italy in particular, Eni said.

Italy could see a halt in the remaining Russian pipeline gas supplies in January 2025, after a gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine expires.

Baku has announced plans to bolster existing and new gas developments to increase Azeri gas exports to Europe, which totalled more than 12 billion cubic metres in 2023.

Azerbaijan is also prepared to act as a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv to secure the continued transit of gas across Ukraine to Europe next year, Aliyev said during the Italy this week, Reuters reported.

According to industry sources in Baku, the Azeri government is also in talks with BP on a development deal to produce gas from deep formations below existing oil-producing reservoirs at the BP-operated Azeri–Chiraq–Guneshli field in the Caspian Sea.

In July, Eni and Socar signed another upstream-related agreement that sources in Baku said involves Eni's possible entry into a prospective Caspian offshore oil development.

A second MoU signed this week in Rome by Descalzi and Socar president Rovshan Najaf calls for technology application to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency in Azerbaijan's upstream industry.

These include the evaluation of carbon capture and transportation from existing industrial plants, carbon dioxide storage and utilisation, and the identification of renewable energy opportunities, Eni said.

The third MoU calls on the companies "to explore potential cooperation in the biofuel production chain" in Azerbaijan and the wider Caucasus region.

Eni said that the cooperation may result in the "possible conversion of traditional refineries into biorefineries, leveraging the deep expertise and proprietary technologies of both Eni and [biofuel subsidiary] Enilive".