On the order of Ludvig Nobel, the world’s first oil-carrying steel-hulled steamship Zoroastr (Zaradusht) was built in Motala, Sweden.
For the first time in the Russian Empire, the Nobel Brothers started the construction of an oil pipeline with a length of 9 km and a diameter of 7.62 sm from the Balakhany oil fields to the Black City district of Baku.
For the first time in the world, the Nobel Brothers Company started transporting oil and oil products in railway tankers.
The Baku-Batum line of the Transcaucasia railway became operational in May.
Oil millionaire Murtuza Mukhtarov applied the percussive drilling rig with metal rods he invented in drilling 1100-meter oil wells and received a patent. Later this machine was widely used in drilling operations.
Azerbaijani oil millionaires Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev and Musa Naghiyev laid the Trans-Caucasus pipeline with a length of 829 versts (1 verst ≈ 1070 metres) and a transmission capacity of 800,000 tons and put it into operation in July 1907. The ceremonial opening of the pipeline was held in Tbilisi on the 24th of July 1907.
During the first leadership of the National Leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev, substantial steps were taken for the dynamic development of the oil and gas industry, as in all areas of the economy.
On the 13th of September 1992, the President of Azerbaijan issued a decree to establish the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) on the basis of Azerineft State Concern and Azernefkimya PU.
Under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev, the Agreement on Joint Development and Production Sharing for the Azeri, Chirag fields and the Deep Water Portion of the Gunashli field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea was signed on September 20, 1994. 11 international oil companies representing 7 countries joined the $7.4-billion Contract of the Century.
Azerbaijani Parliament ratified the Contract of the Century on the 12th of December.
The Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline (also known as the Northern Route Export Pipeline) was commissioned.
An agreement was signed on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Main Oil Export Pipeline.
The Baku-Supsa oil pipeline was commissioned. The first oil shipment in Supsa took place on the 8th of April 1999.
The groundbreaking ceremony of BTC was held with the participation of the heads of state of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye at the Sangachal Terminal on the 18th of September.
The construction of the South Caucasus Pipeline started.
On the 25th of May, an event was held at the Sangachal Terminal to mark the official celebration of first crude oil into the BTC main export pipeline.
The first volume of natural gas was pumped into the South Caucasus Pipeline.
On the 28th of May, Azerbaijani oil delivered through BTC reached the port of Ceyhan.
On the 13th of July, the grand opening ceremony of the Heydar Aliyev Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Main Export Pipeline, the largest energy projects of the 21st century, was held in Ceyhan, Türkiye.
The throughput capacity of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline increased to 1.2 million barrels per day.
The European Commission and the Government of Azerbaijan signed a Joint Declaration on the Southern Gas Corridor.
On the 26th of June, a ceremony of signing the documents on the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project was held with the participation of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) was selected as the export route for delivering the natural gas from the Shah Deniz field to Europe.
“SOCAR Midstream Operations” LLC was officially registered on July 24.
The foundation of the TANAP pipeline was laid in Kars, Türkiye.
The commercial operatorship of the South Caucasus Pipeline was transferred from bp to “SOCAR Midstream Operations” LLC.
On the 29th of May, the official opening ceremony of the Southern Gas Corridor was held at the Sangachal Terminal in Baku.
On the 12th of June, the first section of the TANAP pipeline from the Georgia-Türkiye border to Eskişehir, Türkiye was commissioned.
On the 30th of June, as part of the Shah Deniz 2 project, the first commercial gas was transported to Türkiye through the TANAP pipeline.
On the 30th of November, TANAP’s European connection was commissioned.
On March 20, the technical operatorship of the South Caucasus Pipeline was transferred from bp to “SOCAR Midstream Operations” LLC.
With the commissioning of the TAP pipeline on the 31st of December, the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor project was completed, and for the first time in history, Azerbaijani gas was transported directly to the European market.
In March, the transit of Kazakhstan’s oil through the territory of Azerbaijan began.
On March 5, with the participation of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Türkiye, the Iğdır–Nakhchivan gas pipeline was commissioned.
Within the framework of SOCAR’s 2035 Corporate Strategy and Target Operating Model, “SOCAR Midstream Operations” LLC was reorganized to ensure more efficient management of oil and gas projects. While retaining its name, “SOCAR Midstream Operations” LLC continued managing oil transportation infrastructure and projects. The newly established “SOCAR Midstream Gas Operations” LLC became responsible for gas transportation infrastructure and projects.
On June 8, “SOCAR Midstream Operations” LLC became the Operator of the Western Route Export Pipeline (Baku–Supsa).
On 1 July 2026, SOCAR Midstream Operations assumed the roles of Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) Manager and Common Operator of the BTC and South Caucasus Pipeline.