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16th International Caspian Oil & Gas Conference kicks off in Baku

03 June 2009 09:37 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijanâ€™s Minister of Industry and Energy Natig Aliyev said at the outset that the Caspian region is believed to hold 200 billion barrels of oil in reserve.

â€œThis is equal to American oil reserves. Some estimate the Caspian Sea contains more reserves than the forecast. Nonetheless, we should say that the risks are bigger in the Caspian than any other regions,â€ he added.

According to him, Azerbaijanâ€™s steady hydrocarbon output will be 65 million tons of oil and 40 billion cubic meters of gas per annum during 2015-2025.

He added that $200 billion would have been invested in exploration and production activities in the Caspian Sea under the projections made 10 year ago, but the investments could be twice as much as this amount in the current circumstances.

â€œGiven that $8 billion investment was initially required for Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, we have to date invested $20 billion, that is the amount more than doubled,â€ he underlined.

Touching upon the transportation of Caspian resources, he said Azerbaijan has solved all its problems related to pipelines and supports transit projects in any directions.

U.S. Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Richard L. Morningstar said the Caspian energy resources are of great importance for the United States and Europe.

According to him, the gas supply problems which hit Georgia last year and Ukraine early this year increased attention to the Caspian region as an alternative supply for Europe.

The United States supports the Nabucco and Greece-Italy gas supply routes and takes interest in cooperation with Russia in energy issues, he underscored.