SOCO International plc (LSE: SIA) is an international oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

The company was formed by Ed Storey in 1991 to exploit international oil opportunities as a subsidiary of Snyder Oil Corporation of the USA. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 1997. In 2008 the Company agreed to sell its operations in Yemen to Sinochem for $465 million. In 2010 the company agreed to sell its Thailand assets to UK listed Salamander Energy for $105m. 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.

In 2010 SOCO began to drill 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. The drilling was strongly opposed and condemned by the World Wide Fund for Nature. SOCO allegedly bribed the president of the DR of Congo to gain permission to drill in the Park. In January 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.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Hugh "Chris" Moran KCB OBE MVO ADC FRAeS (28 April 1956 – 26 May 2010) was a fast jet pilot and later a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. He died unexpectedly on 26 May 2010 and at the time of his death he was Commander-in-Chief of Air Command.

Moran was born in Urmston, Lancashire, and educated at Bishop Ullathorne School in Coventry in the late sixties and early seventies before attending the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to study Mechanical Engineering. In 1974, whilst studying at university, Moran became a university cadet in the Royal Air Force. Moran graduated from UMIST in 1977 with a BSc and went to RAF College Cranwell for his initial training with the RAF. He was later to earn an MA from King's College London. In 1980 he married Elizabeth Jane Goodwin.

After completing pilot training, Moran converted onto the Harrier with No. 233 Operational Conversion Unit. In 1980 Moran entered productive service, flying Harriers with No. IV Squadron. In 1983 he returned to No. 233 Operational Conversion Unit, attending a weapons instructors' course before returning to No. IV Squadron as a Qualified Weapons Instructor. Promoted to squadron leader in 1986, Moran was appointed as a flight commander on No. IV Squadron, serving in Belize, the Falkland Islands, and on HMS Illustrious. In 1985, He was also an exchange officer with the United States Marine Corps at Cherry Point, North Carolina.