Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli: Azerbaijan’s presence on Europe’s energy map very important

Azerbaijan’s presence on the energy map of the region and Europe is very important, Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli, BP vice president for the Caspian region, communications and external affairs, said during the panel session “Heydar Aliyev and Energy Strategy” at the conference “Foreign Policy Priorities of National Leader Heydar Aliyev,” Report informs.

According to Aslanbayli, the Contract of the Century is the cornerstone of Azerbaijan’s current oil and gas strategy.

“At that time, many countries claimed the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil fields, including Russia, Turkmenistan, etc. Investors had to be sure that the funds invested in this project would not be lost. They needed guarantees, and Heydar Aliyev provided them,” he said.

Aslanbayli stressed that this was the first contract of this kind in the post-Soviet space, signed with foreign companies.

The BP vice president noted that Heydar Aliyev’s policy was to unite all companies to achieve common interests.

“The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is also a very ambitious project. But at the initial stage, it was unfavorable from a commercial point of view. However, the leadership and coordination of the three countries - Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye, created conditions for the implementation of the project, through which Azerbaijani oil could be supplied to international markets,” he added.