President: Azerbaijan successfully fulfills all major tasks in energy sphere

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 4 / Trend S. Aliyev / The 20th anniversary of Caspian Oil & Gas 2013 international exhibition is a great historical event. This exhibition has been attracting more and more companies for 20 years already and around 400 companies are participating in the exhibition this time, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the opening ceremony of Caspian Oil & Gas 2013 exhibition on June 4. "This is a characteristic feature itself," he said. "Despite that around 20 years have passed, the exhibition has not lost its relevance. Its importance has increased even more." "Although the major oil and gas contracts have been signed, and the foreign companies have been successfully working in Azerbaijan for many years, the significance of the exhibition is growing. Indeed, the congratulatory letters of the U.S. President and British Prime Minister traditionally sent to the participants of the exhibition prove once again the significance of this exhibition." According to President Aliyev, Azerbaijan has passed a long way for 20 years and has achieved great success in the energy sector. "We were at the initial stage of the work twenty years ago. The exhibition had much support and played a great role in the development of the Azerbaijani oil and gas sector," President Aliyev said. He noted that the world didn't know much about Azerbaijan back in 1994, when the first exhibition was hosted. "It means that the companies operating in the oil sphere knew that Azerbaijan is an oil country, but didn't have enough information about the actual potential and future plans of the country's development. We ourselves could not fully imagine the country's future and its development, despite a new oil strategy which was developed and introduced under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev in Azerbaijan in the mid 1990's," the President underscored. "Azerbaijan has successfully resolved all main energy issues, ensured its independent economy and strengthened its independence which is the result of this strategy," he said. "Azerbaijan is a wonderful area for international cooperation," he added. "We have the precise, specific plans for the coming years, whereas 20 years ago there were only programs and intentions for Azerbaijan's development." "Of course, the signing of the "Contract of the Century" was a historic event, a turning point. It is not an accident that the contract was called the "Contract of the Century" in 1994. Right now, in the 21st century, we can say that this is a contract of two centuries, because today the contract signed within the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oil and gas field development project, has not lost its significance. On the contrary, as a result of this contract implementation, the new routes form the basis for the successful development and implementation of other projects today." "The significance of the "Contract of the Century" was sufficiently stressed," he said. "I would like to stress that Azerbaijan was the first country which discovered the Caspian Sea for joint development with foreign companies," he said. "The transport infrastructure connecting the Caspian Sea with the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea has been created for the first time. This gave impetus to the successful development of other projects." Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az