Minister: growing cargo volumes in Azerbaijan affect climate

22 April 2019 15:13 (UTC+04:00)

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After Azerbaijan regained the state independence, the government began to pay special attention to managing emissions and protecting the environment, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mukhtar Babayev said at the 4th SOCAR International Caspian and Central Asia Downstream Forum on Trading, Logistics, Refining and Petrochemicals in Baku, Trend reports.

According to Babayev, industrial production, which has been conducted in Azerbaijan for 170 years, has affected the environment and climate of Azerbaijan. "The issue of emissions management is kept in the focus of attention by the state. Ratification of the Convention on the Status of the Caspian Sea will give an even greater impetus to this," the Minister said.

Babayev noted that cargo transportation through the territory of Azerbaijan is growing every year, which is used for transit not only by neighboring countries, but also by China, Japan, South Korea and other countries within the framework of the One Belt, One Way project. The Minister added that this also affects the climate.

The 4th SOCAR International Caspian and Central Asia Downstream Forum on Trading, Logistics, Refining and Petrochemicals started in Baku on April 22. Every year, the Forum, which is the largest event in the region in the field of oil and gas, is attended by over 300 delegates comprising the representatives of major oil and gas companies, refineries, trading firms, ports, terminals, banks and analytical agencies.

The participants of the 4th SOCAR Forum discuss regional gas projects; potential imbalances in the global hydrocarbon market in 2019; new oil and gas fields in the region and their impact on trade flows and export routes; Caspian and Central Asian oil in a global context; and key export markets for the region’s refineries and trade flows. Among other issues, trends in the global markets for petrochemical products including price trends, trade flows and technology development, and current state and prospects of Transcaucasian railway routes to the ports of Georgia will be also reviewed.

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