Britain leads investing in Azerbaijan

Last week turns out to be British

BP Group Chief Executive Sir John Browne, while visiting the region last week, said that "stability in the region will lure unprecedented investments".

Sir John Browne visited Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan to pay courtesy visits to the Presidents of the three republics. On Tuesday Sir John arrived in Ankara to meet President Ahmed Nejdet Sezer before leaving for Istanbul to make a keynote address to the "Tale of Three Seas" Conference. On Thursday, Sir John flew to Tbilisi for a meeting with President Eduard Shevardnadze.

On the same day Mr. Brown traveled to Baku and hosted a reception for senior government and state officials, diplomats, partner companies, contractors, NGOs, political parties and other guests .

In a meeting with President Aliyev Friday, BP chief executive John Browne said that during his meetings with the Turkish and Georgian presidents he had stressed it was a decisive moment and they were on the threshold of taking an important step, namely implementation of wide-scale oil and gas projects. "This moment should be celebrated", Mr. Browne said. President Aliyev voiced solidarity with the BP head and said he was satisfied to see concrete steps towards the full-scale realization of the projects. The President noted that the feeling was quite different a couple of years before, as US companies were opposing the Baku-Ceyhan and Azerbaijan supporting, while BP was uncertain over the project.

"Now we have a profound trust in the project. You have embraced on concrete work and your decision to invest $13 billion have silenced those who frowned upon the project", the Azeri President said.

Mr. Browne expressed his confidence that President Aliyev, using his position and authority, will further contribute to strengthening stability in the region. "I am sure that the current investments will prove successful if stability is in place in the region. The stability will bring about broad opportunities to lure new unprecedented investments to the region", Mr. Browne said. The meeting was also joined by Prime Minister Artur Rasizadeh, SOCAR President Natiq Aliyev, AOIC President David Woodward, and other executives.

Also on Friday, President Aliyev and Sir John inaugurated the HIVE (Highly Immersive Visualization Environment) facility in BP's Villa Petrollea Offices in Baku. The HIVE is a computer-based "virtual reality" tool, which helps BP's multi-disciplinary teams to better tackle complex field development problems and to find solutions more quickly. The BP HIVE in Azerbaijan is the first this type facility in the Caspian region.

Sir John returned to London on Friday evening.

Interest in BTC growing

The ongoing visit by the BP president John Brown to the countries to be crossed by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Erzurum gas pipeline is invigorating confidence in the future of these projects. The first official statement by the BP president as to his support for the BTC project and confidence of its successful materialization has considerably boosted the interest of the companies active in Azerbaijan in the project.

Head of the ENI Group Vittorio Minkanto told a "Tales of Three Seas" conference in Istanbul that implementation of the BTC project is beyond a doubt. Besides Chevron and TotalFinaElf, the interest in taking over a portion of SOCAR's stake in the BTC project has been voiced by Conoco and Royal Dutch Shell.

In a reception at Hyatt Park Thursday, Mr. Brown said $13 billion would be invested in all BP-operated projects in Azerbaijan in the next 3 years, which is the largest investment project of the company.

Queen birthday reception given

The British embassy in Baku organized a luxurious reception at the Hyatt Park on the occasion of the birthday of British Queen Elizabeth the second, as President Aliyev, President's office officials, parliament speaker, vice-speakers, foreign minister, ambassadors accredited in Baku, MPs, and public figures were taking part in the official party.

Welcoming the guests British ambassador Andrew Tucker underscored that the great number of attendees proves Britain's tremendous interest in Azerbaijan. "Britain remains the biggest investor in Azerbaijan with much of its investment made in oil and gas sector. Tourism and agriculture will be next", he said.

The ambassador went on to say that his country would also contribute to the poverty eradication program in Azerbaijan. Cooperation in education, especially in English teaching is also underway in Azerbaijan, Mr. Tucker said.

According to him, the UK will be involved in restoration of the occupied Azeri territories after the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict is resolved. Finishing his speech, the ambassador wished, on behalf of the Queen, the people of Azerbaijan peace and prosperity and President Aliyev health.

Congratulating the people of the UK on the birthday of the Queen, President Aliyev spoke of the Azeri-British relations, especially in economic sector. These relations have been dynamically developing for 10 years of cooperation, the President said.

The Azeri head of state emphasized the BP leadership in developing oil and gas bearing fields in the Caspian and recalled Prime Minister Tony Blair's letter, which turns on new prospects of cooperation.