Azerbaijan continues to be a key oil industry driver and innovator

Caspian Energy (CE): Your Excellency, following your recent visit to Baku, how do you assess the current trajectory of the partnership between OPEC and Azerbaijan? Furthermore, how can this bilateral cooperation serve to further strengthen energy market stability in the current global climate?

Haitham Al Ghais, Secretary General of OPEC: It was a great pleasure to visit Baku in early July – an iconic capital and one of many oil industry ‘firsts’, including the first oil well in Bibi-Heybat. Today, Azerbaijan continues to be a key oil industry driver and innovator and is viewed globally as an important and reliable energy producer.

It is also central to many multilateral initiatives, including the OPEC and non-OPEC Declaration of Cooperation (DoC), a landmark collaboration that has been central in helping bring stability to the market since it was inaugurated almost 10 years ago. It has also been central to the development of the Charter of Cooperation (CoC), a more long-term framework to tackle oil and energy industry challenges and opportunities.

Azerbaijan’s full support can be viewed in its hosting of the recent inaugural CoC Technical Committee Meeting, which focused on fully realizing the objectives of the CoC. This included further facilitating dialogue with major oil consumers, promoting oil market stability, and strengthening cooperation in technology, innovation, and investment.

I would like to thank Azerbaijan’s President, H.E. Ilham Aliyev, for his unwavering support for both the DoC and CoC. His leadership and diplomacy have been vital in moving both forward. At the recent CoC meeting, it was also an honour to share a platform with Parviz Shahbazov, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Energy, whose backing and guidance have been pivotal to our cooperation over the past decade.

Looking ahead, we fully believe that OPEC, the DoC, and the CoC will continue to support sustainable oil market stability, and provide a platform to help overcome the challenges the industry faces, and to deliver on the opportunities.