The move followed similar strikes in other foreign oil companies by Azeri employees demanding better working conditions, trade unions, healthcare and equal treatment with their foreign counterparts.

"The wages were raised by 20%, as promised, but the other pledges are yet to be met. We will not go back until this happens," the protesters said.

But the strike ended later after the company's executives promised again to meet the protesters' demands.

The strikers said the company's administration had failed to deliver on its promises made after a similar protest at the Heydar Aliyev Deepwater Jacket Factory last November, to provide medical insurance and sign employment contracts with the workers.