MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE LAYS GROUNDWORK FOR BAKU ENERGY SUMMIT
A ministerial conference to lay groundwork for the Baku energy summit organized by the Azerbaijan Ministry of Industry and Energy was held here at the Hyatt Regency-Nakhchivan hotel on November 13.
Opening the event, which brought together delegations from 21 countries and EU representatives, Minister of Industry and Energy Natig Aliyev focused on Azerbaijan`s socio-economic achievements for the past five years. He said that for the mentioned period, Azerbaijan`s Gross Domestic Product has increased 2.7 fold, GDP per capita has reached $5,800 and currency reserves have exceeded $17 billion bringing the country to a leading position in the region. The Minister went on to say that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline started operating and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan gas pipeline has become a reality. The Baku-Supsa and Baku-Novorossiysk oil pipelines as well as the Kulevi terminal State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic put into operation in Georgia are transporting the country`s hydrocarbons to the world market. Azerbaijan, he said, has become not only oil but also gas exporting country.
According to preliminary estimations, Azerbaijan`s oil and gas reserves make up 2.2 billion tons and 5.5 trillion cubic meters respectively. The country is expected to export 208.2 million tons of oil in the next four years.
The Minister mentioned that the BTC pipeline is currently transporting 805,000 barrels of oil per day, and the number is expected to reach 1 million barrels by the end of the year. On Azerbaijan`s new projects, he said that oil refineries will be built in Moldova, Georgia and Turkey. Natig Aliyev expressed the country`s support for the Odessa-Brody and Trans-Adriatic routes to deliver Caspian hydrocarbons to Europe.
He called on the interested parties to exert and coordinate their joint efforts towards strengthening and deepening cooperation in energy and related fields.
The conference considered the summit agenda, energy security and regional cooperation issues.
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