Ernst & Young holds oil & gas event in Baku
Ernst & Young organized an oil & gas conference in Baku on May 17.
The event, held at the Four Seasons hotel, hosted more than 100 participants, among which were government and public officials, and top management of oil & gas companies operating in Azerbaijan.
Karl Johansson, Ernst & Young Managing Partner for the CIS, and Ilgar Veliyev, Ernst & Young Country Managing Partner for Azerbaijan shared their views about the current state and the future of Ernst & Young's activity in Azerbaijan.
The morning session was opened by Ernst & Young's Global and CIS leadership, including Alexey Loza, Leader of the Oil & Gas and Power & Utilities Groups in the CIS, and Andy Brogan, Global Oil & Gas Transaction Advisory Leader, who spoke about global trends in the Oil & Gas industry and mergers & acquisitions activity. The session was concluded by Suleyman Gasimov, SOCAR Vice President on Economic Affairs, who discussed SOCAR's development and current financing activities.
The afternoon session was opened by John Avaldsnes, Ernst & Young's Global Oil & Gas Advisory Leader, who highlighted current LNG trends and the globalization of the gas market. The session was continued by Ernesto Daza, Head of Finance - AGT Midstream of BP Azerbaijan, Christian Giudicelli, General Manager of Total E&P Azerbaijan, and Tanguy Cosmao, Vice President, Asset Management and Business Development of Statoil Azerbaijan, who discussed the prospects and challenges of current projects, including Shah Deniz Stage II, Absheron field development and other exploration projects, as well as future plans of international majors in the region.
"The first Oil & Gas Conference in the Caspian region that Ernst & Young organized in Baku proved to be a great success. We were delighted to see so many policy and decision makers attend and share their views on the future of oil and gas industry. Clearly, hydrocarbons will continue to play a critical role in the development of the regional economy, just as they have in the past. We are very pleased to work together with all major oil and gas companies in the region to jointly move the industry forward," said Karl Johansson.
John Avaldsnes shared his experience: "I am very pleased to be part of the oil & gas event in Baku. The event is very important and focuses on some of the key issues, both risks and opportunities, the industry is facing today and going forward. Also, the discussions and Q&A sessions gave us an excellent opportunity to discuss the global oil & gas trends, trends in the mergers & acquisitions market and the implications of LNG on the global gas market."
"There are many questions to be addressed by the industry and by its stakeholders. But one thing we know for sure, the world will continue to depend on the oil and gas industry to fuel economies, create jobs, and provide return to investors," Alexey Loza said.
"The Oil & Gas industry is a priority sector for Ernst & Young. We regard Azerbaijan as a vital component of the Oil & Gas industry and we have had a long and constructive association with both inbound investors and the domestic oil industry. In this context, we are delighted to have this opportunity to invest in the further development of this industry by organizing this conference," Andy Brogan said.
Bakhtiyar Aslanbeyli, Tax & Customs Manager of BP Azerbaijan Georgia and Turkey Region (AGTR) also shared his thoughts.
"The conference was very exciting. It was good to have communication with major players in the market, to see what is beyond our operations and learn about the future plans in the region. It was very interesting to hear what is going on in global energy sector from non oil & gas companies' prospective".
Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services.
Ernst & Young expands its services and resources in accordance with clients' needs throughout the CIS. 4,500 professionals work at 19 offices including Moscow, St.Petersburg, Baku, Almaty, Astana, Kiev, Tbilisi and other locations.