ECONOMY
AZERBAIJAN WILL CONTINUOUSLY DELIVER OIL TO WORLD MARKETS IN COMING DECADES, PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV
Baku, June 5 (AZERTAC). “Azerbaijan will continuously deliver oil to world markets in the coming decades,” President Ilham Aliyev stated here today at the opening ceremony of the 14th Caspian International Oil and Gas Exhibition 2007.
He stressed that Azerbaijan has major deposits, saying “when the country signed the first contract on development of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) on the Caspian shelf” in 1994 oil reserves were estimated to total up to 500 million tons; according to the latest estimates they exceed 1 billion tons.”
The President described the fact that “Azerbaijan turned from gas–importer into a country exporting the fuel” as the main achievement of the last year. He said Azerbaijan`s natural gas reserves make up 1.5 trillion cubic meters, including 1.2 billion cubic meters from the largest gas and condensate field Shah Deniz, and 300 billion from ACG. “These reserves are enough for the country for at least 100 years,” he stressed confidence that new fields will be open in Azerbaijan in the coming years.
According to the Azerbaijani leader, realization of the oil-gas contracts gives great opportunities to the country including for modernization of its economy, development of non-oil sector and implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects.
He also said that “Azerbaijan`s currency reserves have already reached 5 billion dollars”, that is 20% more than it was in the beginning of 2007.
“According to the World Bank, Azerbaijan`s oil revenues will make up $150-200 billion depending on hydrocarbons` prices,” President Aliyev said. He also advised that the volume of investments made into the country’s economy over the past 13 years have reached $30 billion. He said: “This shows that excellent investment climate has been formed in the country. Over the years of cooperation with foreign companies, there have not been disputes or trials with our partners.”
President Ilham Aliyev estimated that in the coming years, “Azerbaijan will play a key supplier of energy in the region and Europe.