TURAN,
16, April 2008

Baku, 16 April: Azerbaijan has to draw up a new programme in the oil and gas sector for the further development of its economy, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told a government session on 14 April devoted to the results of the socio-economic development in the first quarter of 2008.

"We are successfully continuing our oil strategy started by national leader Heydar Aliyev. There may be an impression that we have done everything in this sector. However, first, life does not stand still; second, there are already new challenges, new projects and new global initiatives on the agenda," the president said.

He said that Azerbaijan is ready to join other projects that are not related to its energy resources but are important for the region. "I can say that this sphere occupies a more serious place on the agenda of the world compared to the beginning of the 1990s. Our region, particularly the Caspian Sea, is a new source for the global energy market. This is a very rich source, its hydrocarbon resources will play a very important role in the energy security in the future," Aliyev said.

The president thinks that Azerbaijan has to take advantage of its potential. "First of all, it is necessary to protect our national interests to the maximum. We need to participate in projects that are advantageous to us and meet the country's interests, bearing in mind that we possess brilliant capacities from the point of view of both extraction, export and transit of hydrocarbons. Actually, we ourselves have created these capabilities, no-one has done this for us," the president said.