President Aliyev: Azerbaijani citizens successfully participate in all major oil projects

A new semi-submersible drilling rig named after Heydar Aliyev in an offshore supply and logistics base of SOCAR’s Caspian Drilling Company was inaugurated last week.

Anew semi-submersible drilling rig named after Heydar Aliyev in an offshore supply and logistics base of SOCAR’s Caspian Drilling Company was inaugurated last week.

The installation can operate at sea depths up to thousands of meters, while its drilling depth is 12,000 meters. The funds invested both by the State Oil Fund and the State Oil Company in this project amount to approximately $1 billion

This is a historic event for the oil industry of Azerbaijan because such a large drilling rig has not been built in Azerbaijan before, said President Ilham Aliyev as he attended the commissioning of the new semi-submersible drilling rig.

“We are witnessing the successful implementation of yet another cooperation project with foreign partners. Of course, this is a reality because Azerbaijan has been successfully cooperating with foreign partners for many years. Foreign companies invest in Azerbaijan, but investment in this facility has been made by the state of Azerbaijan,” the President said, stressing that the project showed “our strength and capabilities”.

The project also demonstrates that the oil industry in Azerbaijan develops successfully, the President added. “When foreign companies began to invest in Azerbaijan, one of our main conditions was that this investment should also serve the development of the oil industry, creation of jobs in Azerbaijan, high salaries for our employees, enhanced professionalism and training courses for them. We see all this today. Azerbaijani citizens successfully participate in all major oil projects and bring huge benefit to themselves and the country,” he said.

Recalling that the drilling rig has been given the name of great leader Heydar Aliyev, President Aliyev said that the fact is no coincidence as Heydar Aliyev is the founder of Azerbaijan’s modern oil industry.

“Today, the oil strategy of Heydar Aliyev is being successfully implemented. In 1994, the signing of the Contract of the Century marked the beginning of a new era in the oil industry of Azerbaijan. At the same time, important steps were taken to develop Azerbaijan’s oil industry under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev in the 1970s,” underlined the President, further stressing that if the Contract of the Century had not been signed, Azerbaijan could not have achieved such level of development.

President Aliyev further mentioned that the semi-submersible drilling rig will function on the very promising gas condensate field of Absheron.

“There are other promising projects on our agenda. Work on Umid is already underway. Foreign companies are displaying interest in Babek and Garabagh projects again,” he added.

Speaking about cooperation with foreign partners, the President emphasized that this cooperation is built on a sound basis. “Both investor and contractor companies work successfully in Azerbaijan. Of course, they have their own corporate interests. We have our own state interests, and these interests coincide. I think that Azerbaijan has created excellent conditions for foreign investors,” he said, stressing that all contracts are approved by law, which inspires confidence in investors.

The ‘Contract of the Century’, signed back in 1994 is the deal to develop three major oil fields – the Azeri, Chirag and Gunashli. The deal became a crucial turning point in the rapid development of the Azerbaijani economy, while GDP increased sixteen times, exceeding $50 billion today.

Over the past two decades since the ‘Contract of the Century’, the nation was able to establish itself as a reliable partner to cooperate with international companies, attracting new technologies and innovation into the country and foreign investments into the non-oil sector as well.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan takes huge steps in a way of turning into a net gas export and gas transit hub in the neighboring region, with major energy companies supporting the industry.