Press Release
Oil & Gas - 2005
The notable event in the Caspian region, the traditional "Caspian Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical" Exhibition completed its work in Baku on the 10th of June. The organisers of the exhibition were the Caspian Events company and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, while the co-organisers were the ITE Group Plc company and its exclusive partner in the Caucasus the Iteca Caspian company. Official support was rendered to the exhibition by the Azerbaijan Republic Ministry of Industry and Energy and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic.
The solemn opening ceremony took place on June 7 with participation of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic, His Excellency Ilham Aliyev. In his speech Mr. President congratulated everyone heartily on the occasion of the International Exhibition and Conference and said "Holding of the exhibition has become a good tradition already. I remember, the first time the exhibition was held in 1994, it became a very significant event in the social-political life of Azerbaijan, because at that time Azerbaijan was making its first steps towards realisation of its oil strategy. It has been 11 years now that the oil strategy of Azerbaijan initiated by our national leader Heydar Aliyev and successfully carried out so far, is wining great success to our country. Commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) is opening a new epoch in the development of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is rapidly putting into operation its own oil and gas potential. I am very glad that the foreign investors together with us have carried out enormous work throughout these years and believed in the bright future of Azerbaijan. From this point of view I would like to specially mark the merits of Mrs. Susan Crouch. The exhibition of 1994 held by her initiative, demonstrated to the entire world that Azerbaijan possesses rich oil-gas potentials and is attractive for foreign investors. I am very glad that this exhibition and conference is being held in Azerbaijan again and that the interest in this event is not decreasing but rather increasing. If taken into consideration that Azerbaijan has already put into operation the overwhelming majority of its oil and gas fields and that all of the envisaged grand projects have found or are finding their solution, the unfading interest in the exhibition and conference is a very important indication and a very substantial factor. It means that Azerbaijan retains its rightful place in the world oil society and does not surrender its leading positions in the region. I am sure that, in future, too, we together with out foreign partners shall successfully realise all the planned projects. Dear friends, I would like to greet everyone once again and wish success to the exhibition and conference".
Other participants of the opening ceremony were the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Azerbaijan Mr. Suleyman Tatliyev, US Secretary on Energy issues Mr. Justin Swift, Ambassador of Great Britain to Azerbaijan Mr. Laurens Bristow, Deputy Energy Minister of Turkey Mr. Salikh Pashaoglu, Secretary of State on Economy and Labour of Romania Mr. Dimeter Atilla, Chair of the Caspian Events company Mrs. Susan Crouch, and Advisor of the ITE Group Plc company Sir Andrew Wood.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Mrs. Crouch summarised the work carried out by her company in an effort to organise an oil and gas forum in Baku. Mrs. Crouch announced that starting from 2006 the British exhibition company ITE Group Plc, known as the organiser of over 15 international exhibitions and conferences in the oil-gas sector throughout the world, would take over organisation of the Caspian Oil and Gas exhibition and conference.
Complimentary letters sent to the exhibition and conference by the President of the United States of America George Bush and the Premier-Minister of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Toni Blayer were read at the opening ceremony.
As it was stated in the letter from George Bush read by the US Secretary on Energy issues Mr. Justin Swift, the United States will continue cooperation with Azerbaijan for ensuring "energy security in the world and achieving prosperous and democratic future for the Azerbaijan people and the entire region." George Bush congratulated the President of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan people on the occasion of the opening of the Oil and Gas exhibition and wished success in the work of the exhibition and conference".
Mr. Bristow read the complimentary letter of the Premier Minister to the participants and guests of the exhibition. In his letter, Mr. Blayer emphasised that the year 2005 has become one of the most important dates in the history of the oil industry of Azerbaijan due to the commissioning of the BTC pipeline and production of first Oil from the Chirag field. He expressed his satisfaction with the fact British companies once again constitute the majority of participants at the Caspian Oil and Gas 2005 exhibition.
Following the solemn opening ceremony, the President of Azerbaijan and his escort made the round of the exhibition and visited over a dozen of stands.
Global attention is focused on developments in the oil and gas industry in Azerbaijan in what Natiq Aliyev, President of SOCAR, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, has described as "the Year of Oil". This interest is certainly reflected by the enthusiasm with which companies from all over the world have reserved space at the Exhibition. The Caspian Oil and Gas exhibition was held in the three pavilions of the Sports-Exhibition Complex after Heydar Aliyev. This year, 331 companies from 29 world countries were presented at the exhibition with 67 of them participating in this exhibition for the first time. In comparison with the previous year the exhibition had increased by 15%. Within the 4 working days of the exhibition the visitors familiarised with: reservoir engineering; geophysics and geology; construction and exploitation, oil and gas wells, platforms and floating rigs; designing, manufacturing and servicing the equipment for oil and gas industry; pipe-laying and providing protection systems for pipelines; refining and petrochemicals; hydrocarbons transportation; building and construction works for the energy sector; providing oil and gas storage systems; producing specialist techniques, general operational and maintenance back-up and spare parts and many others, including financial and legal services. Once again operators active in the region have booked large spaces at the show. These include BP, ConocoPhillips, Itochu, Lukoil, Statoil, TPAO, Total, TransNeft and others. Equally large spaces have been reserved by major contractors including Blue Water Shipping, Bos Shelf, CCIC, McDermott, National Oilwells, Technip, Siemens and others. National group pavilions have been reserved by France, Germany, Russia, Italy and the UK. Encouragingly, there are a growing number of companies from Azerbaijan. Among the local participants are the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, AzerKabel, AzeriGas, AzNeftKhimMash, AzerKhimiya, Bayva Energy, Alkan, Baku Steel Company, Mag-Pi, Caspian Investment Centre and others. And for the first time this year the official airline of the event is the national airline company AZAL.
Over the years, the Oil and Gas exhibition acquired a status of a business forum in anticipation of which, companies postpone presentation of their new products and new projects. During the exhibition the companies demonstrated to the visitors new products and services that had not been put in production yet. The original design of the stands of the participant-companies and their work in the process of the exhibition spoke of active preparation and anticipation of the exhibition. Basing on the results of the surveys held among the visitors by the marketing company SIAR, the organisers decided to nominate a number of companies. The following companies received certificates and prises: BP company - for "The best design of the stand", the ConocoPhilips company - for "The most original design of the stand", the European Bearing Corporation - for "The best application of the standard exhibition equipment".
Traditionally, the second day of the exhibition - the 8th of June - was marked by the beginning of the Oil and Gas Conference dedicated to the issues of production and transportation of the energy resources of the Caspian region. This year the conference took place in the HYATT Meeting and Conference Center of the HYATT Regency hotel.
280 delegates took part in the work of the conference. Among the reporters were: the Ministry of Industry and Energy of the Azerbaijan Republic in the person of the Minister Mr. Medjid Kerimov; the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic in the persons of the President of the company Mr. Natik Aliyev and the first Vice-President of the company Mr. Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh; the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey in the person of the Deputy Minister Mr. Salikh Pashaoglu; the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Georgia in the person of the deputy Minister Mr. Isaak Novruzov; the National Agency of Mineral Resources of Romania in the person of the President of the Agency Mr. Georg Buliga; the Oil Ministry of Iran; The Ministry of Oil and Natural Gas of India in the person of the Minister Mr. Mani Shankar Ayar; the BP Azerbaijan company in the person of the President of the company Mr. David Woodward; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran; the European Reconstruction and Development Bank (London); the BOTASH company; the Department of Trade and Industry of Great Britain; the Kazakh National Gas Corporation, the Georgian International Oil Corporation and many others.
The conference opened with a plenary session on "Strategic Development of the Caspian Oil and Gas Resources" held with participation of Mr. Medjid Kerimov - the Minister of Industry and Energy of Azerbaijan, mr. Natik Aliyev - the President of SOCAR, Lord Freyzer, the Chairman of the Anglo-Azerbaijan Society, Mr. Salikh Pashaoglu - the Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, Mr. David Woodward - the President of the BP Azebaijan, Mr. Isaak Novruzov - the Deputy Minister of Fuel, Energy and Communications of Georgia, Mrs. Ann Eddington - the Department of International energy policy and oil markets of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Great Britain.
In his welcoming speech Mr. Medjid Kerimov stressed entrance of the country into a new era which proves correctness of the oil strategy defined by the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. "Almost all the projects carried out in Azerbaijan today are in the hub of attention of the President Ilham Aliyev" said Mr. Kerimov. Then, attention was drawn to the topic of "Development of the Caspian Fields and Production" with visual presentations made by SOCAR, TPAO, STATOIL, Michael Wilson Partners, the Oil Ministry of Iran, and the National Agency of Mineral Resources of Romania. The main report of the session was made by Natik Aliyev. More detailed consideration of the given topic was made at the next, third session. The last session of the first day of the conference threw light on the issues of "Regional Investment and Sustainable Development" basing on the experience of the organisations actively involved in the financial sphere of the region.
The second day of the conference was devoted to the issues of "Transportation of the Caspian Oil and Gas", which began with a welcoming speech of the first Vice-President of the SOCAR Mr. Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh. He said, that by the year 2010 production of oil in Azerbaijan will increase by 4 times in comparison with the previous year and will make up 63 million ton. Just 9-10 million ton of that volume will be produced by SOCAR itself, while 50 million ton of oil will be produced from the "Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli" field, and the rest will be provided by production of condensate from the "Shah-Deniz" field. He also noted, that by the same period of time, production of gas in the country will considerably increase as well. "About 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas will be produced in the country in 2011-2012, and 3665 billion cubic meters - in the year 2015" said Mr. Yusifzadeh.
One of the most interesting reports was made by the guest of the conference Mr. Mani Shankar Ayar, the Minister of Oil and Natural Gas of India. He said that India would like to ship the Caspian energy resources into the Asian region. "We are ready to buy the Caspian oil which will arrive at the Mediterranean through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. India, together with Korea, Japan and China, is the fastest growing oil consumer of the world. I declare that India is interested in buying the Caspian oil, which will be acquired at the Ceyhan terminal. Thus, it can be said that there is a new consumer of the Caspian Oil in Ceyhan", said the Minister.
Later, the organisations involved in the BTC (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline named after Heydar Aliyev) project, such as SOCAR, Dallas & Co Solicitors, BOTAS, NEDRA and other made presentations; then, at the second session, further and wider discussions were held regarding the plans of transportation encompassing a wider region.
The conference concluded its work with presentations on "The Caspian Service Sector" made by the companies-contractors such as the KG Process Innovations, BOS Shelf LLC, KCA DEUTAG and others.
Conference proceedings (catalogue) including speeches, photographs, speaker biographies in English and Azeri were produced for the first time.
This year for the first time the exhibition organisers will issue an official newspaper of the exhibition "Daily News of the Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition". Three editions have been issued on June 7, 8 and 9. The newspaper will present articles on participants, industry news, interviews with key figures of the oil sphere, review of all segments of the market and information on the exhibition, conference and events held in the framework of the exhibition. The newspaper will be distributed free of charge among the participants and visitors at the exhibition and conference during.
Within the 4 days of work the exhibition was visited by 8940 professional visitors from Azerbaijan and from near and far foreign countries. 90% of the visitors were the professionals of the industry.
The Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition has once again proved that participation at the exhibition today is a valuable opportunity to attract attention to the products, to establish useful contacts with the governmental organisations which regulate the work of the industry, and to establish ties with potential partners.
The Exhibition and Conference is sponsored by: BERTLING, BOS SHELF, BP, XAZAR ENERGY MERKEZI, CONOCO PHILLIPS, DALLAS & CO, EXXONMOBIL, KENTECH, KG PROCESS INNOVATIONS, MICHAEL WILSON & PARTNERS LTD, SALANS and STATOIL.