MP SUGGESTS REVIEWING OIL CONTRACTS

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
May 18 2006

The contracts signed with foreign oil companies operating in Azerbaijan
must be reconsidered, the chairman of the opposition-leaning Whole
Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev has said.

“Azerbaijan had signed very unprofitable agreements with foreign oil
companies at the end of last century and the main objective pursued at
the time was to secure the assistance of these companies in resolving
the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict,” he said
in parliament on Friday.

In 1994, the Contract of the Century was signed with major oil
companies of the world to develop the country’s oil fields. The MP said
that over the years that have passed since the signing the companies
have not provided Azerbaijan with any assistance although billions of
dollars in additional profits have been earned in the Caspian basin
following a hike in the crude price. Hasanguliyev said oil companies in
the US were having to pay extra taxes due to the rising oil price and
suggested that the government apply a similar practice in Azerbaijan.