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President Ilham Aliyev: â€œAzerbaijanâ€™s gas reserves will be enough to us and to consumers, at least 100 yearsâ€

07 June 2011 10:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov - APA-Economics. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev delivered speech at the 18th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition & Conference Incorporating Refining and Petrochemicals kicked off today in Baku.

APA reports that head of the state said interest of the world for Azerbaijanâ€™s oil-gas sector increased gradually.

To him, oil was produced by industrial method for the first time in Azerbaijan: â€œWe have big traditions in oil and gas production. Baku oil had played an important role in providence of victory over fascism during World War IIâ€.

The president noted that Azerbaijan faced big difficulties during the first years of independence: â€œHeydar Aliyev, who came to power that time, took several steps for strengthening of Azerbaijani statehood. One of them was the signing of â€œContract of the Centuryâ€. This contract involved foreign invests to the Caspian Sea for the first time. Since 1995 up to this day, $97 bn investment was allocated to Azerbaijanâ€™s economy. Of these, $42 bn was spent to the oil sector. Today, Azerbaijan actively participates in energy security of the region. The â€œContract of the Centuryâ€ was a historical event in the history. Our first cooperation with foreign companies was very successful. Since 1994 up to this day, we have not any serious problem with foreign companies. Investors are completely sure that their investments are protected by the stateâ€.

Reminding several steps taken in direction of putting up the oil to sale in foreign markets after the â€œContract of the Centuryâ€, the President said at present, Azerbaijani oil put up to sale from 3 directions and branching was provided totally: â€œAs a result of exploitation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil pipeline, a great sum of funds started ti enter the countryâ€™s economy. For the purpose of maintenance of effective use of incomes from the oil, Azerbaijan established State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) and today, SOFAZ is considered one of the most transparent organizations in the world. As a result of the allocation of the incomes coming from oil in countryâ€™s economy in the last 7 years, poverty level in Azerbaijan slipped from 495 to 9%. It would be impossible without SOFAZâ€.

President Aliyev declared that the gained achievements were new period for Azerbaijan: â€œToday, Azerbaijan is recognized in the world not only as oil, but also as a gas country. Formerly, discovery of Shahdaniz deposit did not draw attention, but today, there is a bog interest for this deposit. Azerbaijan also welcomes the diversification of gas corridors and is working in this field. Now, the Azerbaijani gas is supplied to world markets in 4 directions. Major export oil and gas pipelines in Azerbaijan reach 7. We need a big market regulated by law. Proven gas reserves of Azerbaijan are 2.2 trillion cubic meters. Thatâ€™s enough to us and to consumers, at least 100 years. Projections are also higher. We have signed "Gas Declaration" with the European Union and currently works are carried out on other documents. We hope that all documents will be ready soon, and it will have a significant impact on fulfillment of Shahdeniz-2 projectâ€.

Expressing confidence on perspective of the Southern Gas Corridor, the President noted that currently, discussions were conducted between Azerbaijan and Turkey on gas transportation: â€œThe discussions reached the final stage now and transit agreement is expected to assign with Turkey soon. Apart from ShahDaniz, we have other big gas fields, such as Umid, opened by SOCAR. SOCAR is its investor and operator. I hope that exploration of gas fields will continue in the next stages as wellâ€.

The President stressed that Azerbaijan was fulfilling all its obligations in the sphere of energy security: â€œToday, Azerbaijan completely provides itself with energy. Foreign exchange reserves reached $ 35 billion. GDP increased by 3 times in the last 7 yearsâ€.