Baku has officially launched the 30th anniversary edition of its landmark Energy Week. This year, Baku Energy Week hosts 267 companies from 39 countries. The United Kingdom, the United States, and Norway can rightly be considered Azerbaijan’s traditional energy partners. Alongside them, participants from Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine, Finland, Japan, Singapore, and many others are attending. The list is long—and Baku Energy Week has long since earned its status as one of the world’s most respected international energy gatherings.
To fully grasp the significance of what is unfolding in Baku today, one must go back 30 years—to the mid-1990s, when there was no “Energy Week” yet. Back then, the main event was the “Caspian Oil and Gas” exhibition, held in a sports and concert complex that now bears the name of National Leader Heydar Aliyev.
It may be awkward to recall today, but in those years, prominent Russian experts—favored by the Kremlin—seriously argued that Azerbaijan had no significant oil reserves left. Mentions of Azerbaijani oil were even quietly removed from WWII documentaries.
Yes, the days when Baku and its surrounding region led the world in oil production are behind us. But Azerbaijan’s hydrocarbons remain a crucial factor in both energy security and global politics. Many experts believe that it was precisely the non-Russian-controlled export of Azerbaijani oil that helped reduce energy dependence in countries like Georgia and Ukraine. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline, in the view of many, revolutionized the energy landscape of southern Europe.
Today, the focus is on gas exports and the Southern Gas Corridor. Speaking at the opening of Energy Week, President Ilham Aliyev stated: “This year, our gas exports will exceed 24 billion cubic meters. Azerbaijani gas is currently imported by eight countries. Azerbaijan has established itself as a reliable partner in gas supply.” He added that the European Commission already refers to Azerbaijan as a pan-European gas supplier, and that six of the eight current importers are European countries. “The geography of our deliveries will continue to expand,” Aliyev noted, emphasizing ongoing negotiations with new countries seeking Azerbaijani gas to ensure their energy security.
This deserves some clarification. Oil, largely thanks to tankers invented in Baku in the early 20th century, is traded freely on the global market. It has a global price. If, for any reason, oil supplies are disrupted—from Iran or Iraq, for example—those volumes can be replaced with oil from the North Sea or the Niger Delta. The key is getting the oil to a seaport and onto tankers.
Gas is an entirely different matter. There is no single global gas price. A true global gas market is only just beginning to form. And most importantly, gas is typically delivered to end-users through pipelines. Europe learned the hard way what it means to depend on a single supplier willing to use gas as a political weapon—back in the mid-2000s, when Russia disrupted supplies to pressure European consumers.
There’s also another important point. The development of green and alternative energy is a major global trend. But the reality remains: for now, alternative energy cannot fully replace hydrocarbons. President Aliyev emphasized this in his address at COP29 in Baku.
Which brings us to the critical importance of the Southern Gas Corridor—a project that began operating in December 2020. Let’s be frank: Russia attempted to disrupt this project in the autumn of that same year, using Armenia as a proxy. Emboldened by Russian arms supplies, Yerevan launched a promised “new war for new territories.” But the war did not go according to plan. And while Azerbaijan’s global share in oil exports is no longer what it was during the “fiery forties,” military efforts to seize control of Azerbaijani hydrocarbons are still very much in play—as recent events in the South Caucasus confirm.
Today, however, Azerbaijan controls its resources independently. It speaks of gas exports with full sovereignty—backed by a new level of political, economic, and military security around its pipelines.
Azerbaijan’s hydrocarbons are still needed—and in high demand. But most importantly, they now work for us.
Nurani
