The world’s first industrially drilled oil well is located about 6 km from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
It was drilled in 1846 (with large-scale extraction beginning between 1847 and 1848) and marked the beginning of the oil era, establishing Azerbaijan as the cradle of the global oil industry.
In 1848, a second well was drilled in Balakhany, sparking the first oil boom that transformed the region’s economy.
Azerbaijan is one of the world’s leading oil producers, with estimated reserves of over 7 billion barrels. The hydrocarbon sector accounts for approximately 40% of the country’s GDP. The country is primarily managed by the state-owned company SOCAR.
Fields in the Baku area and the Caspian Sea produce over 500,000 barrels per day.
Despite its traditional reliance on oil, Azerbaijan is now investing in diversifying its economy and promoting energy transition plans to develop renewable wind and solar power plants.
