Environmental Department of SOCAR

The Environmental Department was established in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of September 14, 2006 "Concerning the Improvement of the Structure of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic.For the purposes of performing environmental work that meets international standards and conforms to applicable regulations and implementing comprehensive programs to improve the SOCAR system's environmental performance, resolving environmental safety problems arising in the process of producing and processing oil and gas, assessing the company's environmental impact, and solving other problems.

Purposes of the Environmental Department

The Department's primary objectives are to improve the environmental performance of SOCAR's divisions, perform environmental work and services and implement comprehensive programs that conform to international standards and regulations, resolve environmental safety problems arising in the process of producing and processing hydrocarbons, manage industrial waste, build constructive environmental relationships with third parties, assess and review the company's environmental impact, select and apply advanced methods for monitoring industrial pollutants, respond to manmade and natural hazards, ensure that SOCAR landscaping conforms to the applicable regulations, and meet the demand for landscaping materials of the requisite quality on the Apsheron Peninsula, including SOCAR's departments, divisions, Operating Companies, and Joint Ventures.

Activity of the Department

The Department is responsible for determining the environmental impact of production at SOCAR's oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea, the physical and chemical parameters of the aquatic environment, the physical and chemical properties of biogenic substances, petroleum products, and hypolimnic sediments, performing analyses and studies of organic substances, metal accumulation, and microorganism taxonomy, plankton abundance in different layers of water, and nutrient abundance and food chain dynamics.The Department also conducts analyses of soils contaminated with oil, petroleum products, produced water, and other production wastes, identifies pollution sources, determines the depth of pollutant infiltration and the degree of contamination, measures background radiation at oilfields, analyzes air pollutant emissions, and conducts comprehensive environmental monitoring for pollution prevention purposes.