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Azerbaijani President: â€œWe have always kept our wordâ€

03 June 2014 09:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ramiz Mikayiloglu – APA. “The number of foreign companies attending the International Oil & Gas Exhibition is growing from year to year. Because Azerbaijan’s oil and gas sector is developing, assigned tasks are performed, and new ones emerge”, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressing the opening of the 21st International Oil & Gas Exhibition & Conference held in Baku Expo Center, APA reports.

The Head of State said Azerbaijan has attained recent achievements alongside its partners. The President went on to ad that 1993 will be remembered as a pivotal year in the history of Azerbaijan’s independent statehood: “Because the reforms conducted by Azerbaijan's national leader Heydar Aliyev, covered all spheres”.

President Ilham Aliyev remarked that the first International Oil & Gas Exhibition was held in 1994, followed by the signing of the Contract of the Century: “Had the Contract of the Century not signed, there would have not been economic development or true independence. Azerbaijan would be dependent on foreign investment only. For trusting us, I’m grateful to the overseas companies that attended the Contract of the Century. I want to extend my special gratitude to the company of BP for it’s the biggest investor in Azerbaijan. We’ve been together for 20 years. The cooperation between BP and the SOCAR will define the further development of the oil and gas sector in the region”.

The Head of State said great success has been achieved in the oil and gas sector since 1994: “The first oil was extracted 3 years after the contract was signed. It was a record of the soonest oil extraction ever after a contract gets signed. Later on, Azerbaijan introduced its oil and gas potential to world market. The transportation of oil through the Baku–Novorossiysk, Baku–Supsa pipelines began. The Baku-Tbilis-Jeyhan pipeline was constructed. The cooperation format of the Caspian Sea, Black Sea, and Mediterrenian Sea was thereby created. Azerbaijan started to play the role of a transit country after the corridor came into shape. Azerbaijan is also serving the manufacturers functioning in the east of the Caspian Sea. The volume of oil and oil products that are transported through Azerbaijan is growing. Azerbaijan is a reliable transit country, trustworthy partner, and its signature is as precious as its word. We’ve always kept our word”.