Azerbaijan took the second place in voting for World Petroleum Congress

 The country which will host 24^th World Petroleum Congress in 2023 was determined at the meeting of World Petroleum Council in Saint-Petersburg. Canada was selected over Azerbaijan by only one vote in the voting with the participation of 41 members of the World Petroleum Council. The voting, in which Azerbaijan, Canada, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan participated, has been held in four rounds. In the final round Azerbaijan and Canada got 20 and 21 votes respectively. The Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov, who led Azerbaijan's delegation, said that as a country nominating for the first time Azerbaijan's advancement to final with such a great number of votes would serve as an example in the history of World Petroleum Council. “Practice shows that the right to host the World Petroleum Congress is obtained after several times in an attempt to the nomination. Turkey and the United States have been elected after three times for nomination. Unlike Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Argentina have joint a fight as a candidate for several times. Despite of many years of representation and their activity in the World Petroleum Council, compared to these countries, Azerbaijan has been able to get such a great number of votes for the first time.”

The Minister of Energy has explained this attitude to our country among strong candidates by the growing international reputation of Azerbaijan, as well as its strategic position as a reliable provider of energy security thanks to the policy pursued by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev: “All these facts have once again witnessed the attitude of the countries involved in today`s process”, the Minister added.    

The minister noted that Azerbaijan got one more experience by the participation as a candidate in the voting process. The campaign launched in January has served the promotion of our values and our country around the world. At the same time, our cooperation with the members of the World Petroleum Council has been strengthened.

It should be noted that the voting process was held in 4 rounds with 5 candidates for the first time in the history of the World Petroleum Council. Before the voting, the countries' presentations were heard. The Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov made a speech at the event. Video-presentation about historical and modern development of Azerbaijan as an oil country is demonstrated. Azerbaijan will also be represented by special board to inform World Petroleum Council members about our country.

Azerbaijan was elected a member of the World Petroleum Council which was established in1993 and consisted of 62 members, and formed “National Oil Committee” Public Union and until this time has been actively involved in the activities of this influential organization.

The World Petroleum Congress, which has been held as an important platform for the World Petroleum Council every three years, is of great importance in terms of the globally discussed processes in the oil and gas sector and the joint evaluation of new challenges.