Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan and France have explored ways of expanding cooperation in the energy field during a meeting of Azerbaijani Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev with the delegation led by GDF Suez's executive vice president, Jean-Marie Dauger, in Baku on Wednesday, AzerTac state news agency reported.

Minister Aliyev briefed the delegation about achievements made in Azerbaijan, developing transport infrastructure of the country, significance of Azerbaijan as an oil and gas producing country, as well as Azerbaijan's role in Europe as an energy supplier, and its diversified economic issues.

"Azerbaijan has large reserves of oil and gas, and the already diversified pipeline infrastructure with gas reserves of 2. 65 trillion cubic meters. Azerbaijan has also made investment into the energy transportation infrastructure. One of our priorities is to diversify the supply routes. Today, seven oil and gas pipelines take our resources to the world markets via different supply routes," the minister said.

Jean-Marie Dauger said that with regard to natural gas, Azerbaijan is a major partner of Europe in energy security.

"Azerbaijan is the most important partner of France in the whole Caucasus region, and is a country benefiting from direct investments made by us into this region. Our relations have been developing stably," he stressed.

"Successful discovery of new Absheron gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea by Total and Gas de France will strengthen energy potential of Azerbaijan, as well as Europe's energy security," Dauger added.

The meeting also focused on Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and South Caucasus Pipeline, as well as TANAP project.

GDF Suez S.A is a French multinational electric utility company, headquartered in Paris, which operates in the fields of electricity generation and distribution, natural gas and renewable energy.