as lse sia industry oil and gas exploration founded 1997 as snyder oil corporation international headquarters london england uk key people rui de sousa chairman ed story ceo revenue 448.2 million 2014 1 operating income 152.6 million 2014 1 net income 14.0 million 2014 1 website www.socointernational.co.uk soco international plc is an international oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in london . it is listed on the london stock exchange . the company has interests in vietnam the republic of congo brazzaville and angola . 2 contents 1 history 2 operations 3 criticisms 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit the ceo ed story focused the company on international gas and oil exploration and production and the company soon held assets in mongolia tunisia yemen and thailand . 3 not in citation given in 2008 the company agreed to sell its operations in yemen to sinochem for 465 million . 4 in 2010 the company agreed to sell its thailand assets to uk listed salamander energy for 105m . 5 during 2010 the company is aiming to derisk 600 million barrels of potential net recoverable reserves with a drilling programme focused in vietnam and the democratic republic of congo . 6 operations edit vietnam cuu long basin blocks 9 2 and 16 1 te giac trang field soco has been active in vietnam since 1996 and currently has two oil and gas producing blocks in the country block 9 2 and block 16 1 . 7 soco commenced first oil production in august 2015 . angola cabinda onshore north block soco has a 17 % interest in cabinda onshore north block in the north congo basin onshore western cabinda . 8 congo brazzaville marine xi in february 2016 soco started drilling the baobab marine 1 well in the mer profonde sud block offshore the republic of congo . soco said the well is unique to all of the other wells drilled on or near that block because it is targeting a different type of prospect . the well is targeting gross prospective recoverable resources of 330 million barrels of oil . 9 10 democratic republic of congo onshore north congo basin soco s operations in eastern drc commenced in 2013 with a short bathymetry study of lake edward and ceased in august 2014 in accordance with its june 2014 public commitment and soco is no longer conducting any operations anywhere in drc . 11 12 criticisms edit in 2012 soco began to explore for oil in the virunga national park democratic republic of the congo a unesco world heritage site which is home to 200 of the remaining 700 seriously endangered mountain gorilla . 13 soco said it was not drilling for oil and had no plans to drill . 14 15 drilling was strongly opposed and condemned by the world wide fund for nature . in 2010 soco received a presidential decree from the democratic republic of congo drc to explore for hydrocarbons in block v in the southern albertine graben onshore eastern drc . block v encompassed an area of the virunga national park a world heritage site including a part of lake edward . soco had made it clear that block v was not located close to the mikeno sector home to the gorillas . 16 in january 2011 soco employees allegedly forced their way into the park resulting in the conservateur of the park and several international agencies declaring their intention to bring lawsuits against soco and a fall in soco s share price . 17 soco s deputy chief executive officer roger cagle said at the time that the forcible entry is blatantly false . cagle said soco was with a provincial member of parliament and had permission to enter the park . 18 in march 2011 the then drc environment minister jose endundo rejected an environmental assessment submitted by soco and announced that the government would now be conducting its own environmental assessment into oil exploration in virunga as well as the entire border region . nevertheless in september 2011 former minister endundo passed an order giving soco the authorisation to conduct the evaluation of hydrocarbons in the context of the strategic environmental evaluation . 19 in june 2014 soco signed a joint declaration with the world wildlife fund saying it would not drill in virunga unless unesco and the d.r.c. government agree that such activities are not incompatible with its world heritage status . world wildlife fund executives now acknowledge that the battle over virunga is hardly over . soco has yet to relinquish its operating permits or commit to an unconditional withdrawal they re leaving the door open said zach abraham director of the world wildlife fund s global campaigns . 20 in a statement ed story soco s chief executive said hopefully we can all get back to activities focused on both people and the environment where it does the most good for a place that we think can have a better future . 21 see also edit virunga 2014 documentary film virunga national park volcanoes national park queen elizabeth national park rwenzori mountains national park references edit a b c preliminary results 2014 pdf . soco international . retrieved 3 april 2015 . https www.energyvoice.com oilandgas 101039 soco commences drilling from congo well http www.worldofceos.com dossiers edward story jr 2143 soco agrees to sell yemen ops to china s sinochem for 465 million forbes 2 april 2008 proposed disposal of soco thailand company website 20 july 2010 soco international launching major oil exploration programme stockopedia may 17 2010 http www.wallstreet.org time to buy soco international plc after todays huge decline http www.directorstalkinterviews.com soco international plc 18 8 potential decrease indicated barclays capital 412692117 http www.lse.co.uk allnews.asp code mzcpwkyq & headline soco drilling baobab marine1 well in search of 330 million barrels https www.energyvoice.com oilandgas 101039 soco commences drilling from congo well http www.wwf.org.uk about wwf press centre unewsid 7201 http awsassets.panda.org downloads soco wwf statement 11 june 2014.pdf dr congo blocks soco from oil search in virunga park . bbc news . 2011 03 18 . retrieved 3 april 2015 . http www.bdlive.co.za opinion columnists 2014 05 21 soco international feels wrath of media wwf http www.huffingtonpost.com 2012 09 25 soco international oil exploration n 1913969.html block v and the virunga national park . socointernational.co.uk . retrieved 2013 03 29 . congo wildlife authority presses charges against soco . bloomberg.com . 2011 02 17 . retrieved 3 april 2015 . congo wildlife authority presses charges against soco correct bloomberg.com . origin www.bloomberg.com . 2011 02 17 . retrieved 2013 03 29 . ministry of the environment gettleman jeffrey 2014 11 15 . oil dispute takes a page from congo s bloody past . the new york times . retrieved 2014 11 18 . http www.independent.co.uk news world africa british oil company soco agrees to cease operations in congo s virunga national park 9523892.html external links edit soco international v t e energy in the united kingdom companies coal anglo american asia energy bhp billiton enrc glencore rio tinto uk coal oil and gas integrated bg group bp royal dutch shell exploration and production afren bhp billiton cairn energy centrica dana petroleum desire petroleum emerald energy enquest essar energy falkland oil and gas hardy oil and gas jkx oil & gas melrose resources ophir energy perenco premier oil regal petroleum rockhopper exploration soco international star energy tullow oil supply greenergy murco petroleum support abbot group amec ensco expro hunting petrofac qserv score group weir group westerngeco1 wood group utilities generation and supply integrated centrica edf energy1 e.on uk1 rwe npower1 scottish power1 sse generation drax group falck renewables horizon nuclear power1 international power vattenfall united kingdom1 vedanta resources supply the co operative energy ecotricity esb international extra energy firmus energy first utility good energy green energy loco2 energy opus energy ovo energy phoenix natural gas telecom plus distribution electricity electricity north west1 northern powergrid1 sp energy networks1 sse power distribution uk power networks1 western power distribution1 gas firmus energy national grid northern gas networks phoenix natural gas sgn wales & west utilities1 transmission electricity national grid2 scottish hydro electric transmission sp energy networks1 gas national grid other aggreko apx group aquamarine power ecogen enserve geothermal engineering hi gen power mark group wavegen companies with headquarters and or registered office in the uk but no applicable energy operations within the country shown in italics 1ultimate parent company is not uk based 2integrated in the united states no generation or supply activities in the uk energy sources coal coal authority coal fired power stations coal mines coal mining regions confederation of uk coal producers greenhouse gas emissions history miners strike national coal board open pit coal mining electricity association of electricity producers britned east west interconnector energy switching services economy 7 economy 10 electricity billing green electricity grid trade master agreement hvdc cross channel hvdc moyle hvdc norway uk isle of man to england interconnector national grid control reserve service new electricity trading arrangements power stations timeline of the electricity supply industry nuclear advanced gas cooled reactor franco british nuclear forum magnox national nuclear laboratory nuclear decommissioning authority nuclear liabilities fund nuclear power stations office for nuclear regulation sellafield united kingdom atomic energy authority oil and gas bbl pipeline dash for gas forties pipeline system fuel protests gas infrastructure greenhouse gas emissions hydrocarbon oil duty oil and gas authority national transmission system natural gas fields natural gas fired power stations north sea oil oil & gas uk oil fields oil fired power stations oil infrastructure oil refineries petroleum revenue tax 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