Azernews.Az

By Gulgiz Dadashova

The Southern Gas Corridor is forging new links between Azerbaijan and the countries that will benefit from the energy supplies stretching into the heart of Europe.

BP President Robert Dudley made the remark at the opening of the 21st International Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition in Baku on June 3.

He stressed that a major step was taken to approve the stage two development of the Shah Deniz field in late 2013.

"This is one of the most complex challenges ever undertaken in the global oil and gas industry. It represents the largest foreign direct investments made in Azerbaijan," Dudley said. "As the construction activity ramp up it will create over 10,000 jobs in Azerbaijan and tens of thousands jobs in the countries along the Southern Gas Corridor."

Dudley added that the Contract of the Century has put Azerbaijan back on track, as it once again has become one of the world's leading oil and gas producing nations.

"We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) contract," he said. "What has been achieved from 1994 - is extraordinary. It has been good for Azerbaijan, the companies, such as BP, and other partners, as well as thousands for Azerbaijanis who worked on this project."

He noted that this has made a major contribution to the new commercial links that country is building with the rest of the world.

The 21st Caspian International Oil & Gas Exhibition, the largest event in the energy sector of the Caspian region, is taking place between June 3 and June 6 at the Baku Expo Center.

Some 402 companies from 29 countries present their products and services at the exhibition. Famous companies from around the world attend the exhibition. These companies include those which were involved in the Contract of the Century - State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), BP, Statoil, OMV, TPAO, Lukoil and many others.

Local companies comprise 35 percent of the total number of exhibitors, while the total growth of the exhibition has reached 10 percent.

The four day exhibition will also feature a substantial business program. Over 500 delegates from more than 30 countries will take part in the annual conference.

More than 50 representatives of state bodies, leading experts in the oil and gas industry and chief executives of major oil and gas companies from different countries will speak at the conference.