THE Caspian International Oil & Gas Exhibition celebrated its 20th anniversary on June 4 to 7, 2013 at the Baku Expo Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan. The adjoining conference took place alongside the exhibition on June 5 to 6, 2013 at the Jumeirah Bilgah Beach Hotel.
Caspian Oil & Gas is held annually under the patronage of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic, IlhamAliyevand is officially supported by the Ministry of Industry and Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Socar.
Attracting 294 exhibitors and 5,817 visitors over a net exhibition space of 5,451 sq m, Caspian Oil & Gas is the best-attended trade show and conference for the oil and gas industry in Azerbaijan. About 294 exhibitors from 26 countries took part in the event while about 660 delegates attended the conference where about 54 speakers spoke about various topics about the industry.
Local and regional oil and gas companies, along with service providers participating at the exhibition came from 26 countries. National groups from China, Germany, Russia, Middle East and Italy also participated at the event. This year’s key exhibitors included: Socar; Statoil; Saipem; OMV; GDF Suez; BP; Total; Rusneft plus many others. The conference commenced with EU Ambassador, Roland Kobia presenting on behalf of EU Commissioner for Energy, GüntherOettinger, who highlighted Brussels views the Southern Gas Corridor as a multi-stage project and that they are awaiting for the final decision on the pipeline route.
Amos Hochstein, deputy assistant secretary for Energy Diplomacy, US Department of State continued the discussions by adding that the US strongly supports the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor – one of Europe’s flagship energy projects.
Furthermore, Hochstein added that opening the Southern Corridor will change the continental energy map as gas from the Caspian would not only be delivered to Europe from the Shah Denizfield, but also possibly from Turkmenistan and Northern Iraq.
Other highlights during the conference was a keynote presentation given by Rovnag Abdullayev, president, Socar who stated that Azerbaijan’s state oil company is near completing commercial negotiations with potential buyers regarding new volumes of gas and transit costs.
Nabucco Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline also gave presentations in hopes of winning a contract on delivering Caspian gas from the Turkish border to European consumers. Although only one contract would be issued at the initial stage, a second pipeline would be considered if additional sources of gas can be identified.
Annageldi Mammetyazov, Deputy Minister of Petroleum Industry and Natural Resources of Turkmenistan stated that the proposed Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline from the Turkmen Coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan should be a matter for an international consortium, and that the country would only sell gas on its own border.
