Baku, March 18, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Mohammad Barkindo.

OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo thanked for the invitation to visit Azerbaijan and said he was pleased to meet with the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev recalled his meeting with Mohammad Barkindo in Davos, stressing great importance of the OPEC Secretary General`s visit to Azerbaijan where the first oil in the world was produced.

Mohammad Barkindo thanked for the warm words. He described Azerbaijan as the cradle of the oil industry, saying every oilman should come and see Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev said the visit is a good opportunity for Mohammad Barkindo to familiarize himself with Azerbaijan`s historical places and modern development. President Ilham Aliyev praised successful development of Azerbaijan-OPEC cooperation, saying the country completely fulfills all its commitments to the organization. The head of state hailed effective and coordinated efforts taken by Mohammad Barkindo and OPEC to maintain oil price stability, describing this as a good result of joint activities.

Mohammad Barkindo noted President Ilham Aliyev`s role in bringing OPEC and non-OPEC members together, and hailed Azerbaijan`s co-chairmanship of the high-level technical committee, which led to the adoption of Declaration of Cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC members. Mohammad Barkindo said Azerbaijan completely fulfilled all obligations it undertook, adding this demonstrates the country`s commitment to the agreement. He said not only oil producing, but also oil consuming countries are interested in this, noting that results of this work are already obvious in the oil industry and oil markets.

The sides discussed cooperation prospects.