The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) will be the General Partner of the 31st International Conference and Exhibition ‘Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan – 2026’ (OGT 2026), which will take place on 21–23 October in Ashgabat. This was reported by the news agency ‘Turkmenistan: Golden age’.

The forum will bring together energy companies, investors, financial institutions, technology suppliers, and representatives of the international energy sector.

The partnership between SOCAR and OGT reflects the development of energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The company continues to expand its activities in exploration and production, refining, trading, the gas business and international investment.

As part of its Corporate Strategy to 2035, SOCAR is developing its international presence, technological capabilities, digitalisation and projects to reduce its carbon footprint.

In 2023, SOCAR opened a representative office in Ashgabat. The company maintains cooperation with the state-owned concerns ‘Türkmengaz’ and ‘Türkmennebit’. One of the key joint projects remains the ‘Dostluk’ field in the Caspian Sea. An inter-governmental Memorandum of Understanding on its joint exploration and development was signed in January 2021.

Turkmen energy resources are also involved in cross-border Caspian cooperation. The ‘Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan’ (BTC) pipeline transports crude from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan alongside Azerbaijani oil.

SOCAR’s international portfolio includes projects in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. In particular, the company has expanded its operations in Italy following the acquisition of Italiana Petroli (IP), and has also acquired stakes in the ‘Tamar’ gas field off the coast of Israel and the ‘Baleine’ project in Côte d’Ivoire.

OGT 2026 will be held under the motto ‘Energy. Partnership. Progress’. The main topics will include investment in Turkmenistan’s energy sector, the development of the ‘Galkynyş’ field, gas export routes, the TAPI project, the development of hydrocarbon resources in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea, gas processing, digitalisation, the reduction of methane emissions and low-carbon technologies.

The forum is organised by the State Concerns ‘Türkmengaz’ and ‘Türkmennebit’, and the State Corporation ‘Türkmengeologiýa’ in collaboration with the ‘Turkmen Energy Forum’.

The previous OGT brought together over 1,400 delegates from 70 countries. OGT 2026 will continue efforts to attract investment, develop technological cooperation and implement international energy projects.