Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan will continue to receive immense profits from the implementation of large-scale oil and gas projects this year, an energy executive says.
"If the price for oil is estimated at $50 a barrel, the Azerbaijani government's overall profits from the Contract of the Century and the Shahdaniz project will make up $7.8 billion in 2008," BP Azerbaijan Vice-President for Communications and External Affairs, Seymour Khalilov, said.
The Contract of the Century is a deal the resource-rich South Caucasus republic signed with major oil companies of the world in 1994 to tap its vast energy fields. Azerbaijan's biggest field Shahdaniz, which holds estimated reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, launched production in 2006.
Khalilov said state revenues from oil projects amounted to $4.3 billion last year.
Crude prices have been climbing steadily in world markets and have already reached $129 a barrel.