After the discovery of oil fields, Baku became a special place, where various economic and political interests of international coalitions, industrial clans and leaders were concentrated and clashed. VK begins publishing chapters from the book by Ismail Agakishiyev "History of the Baku Oil Industry and the Second Oil Boom (second half of the 19th century - beginning of the 20thcentury)" The book presents a historical analysis of the emergence and current state of the Azerbaijani oil industry.
All the original documents on the work carried out, including maps, charts and data on drilled wells, are stored in the archives of the Republic of Azerbaijan and are the intellectual property of the oil makers of the country. According to analysts, in the sale and use of data on the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea, SOCAR will defend its right to copyrighted information. SOCAR lawyers said that analysis of all documents from the former Soviet Union at their disposal shows that the controversial fields are located at the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea in its entirety and that the claims of Turkmenistan on the Kyapaz deposit are not based on any international or legal grounds.
According to the deputy prime minister of Turkmenistan, Yulbash Kelbanov, the contract prepared for the Kyapaz field was detrimental to the interests of his state. The Turkmen side did not exclude the possibility of collborative work on the development of the Kyapaz field. However, this issue was not to be decided only between Azerbaijan and Russia. The Turkmen side had hoped to negotiate with other Caspian countries and was not ready to address the international court of arbitration.
Expressing his regret about the conflicts and disputes over the Kyapaz oil field, the president of LUKOIL, V. Alekperov, noted: "Unfortunately, the southern part of the Caspian Sea remains virtually unexplored; there investors are closely confronted by the problem of the legal status of the Caspian Sea. While in the north these issues were resolved by bilateral treaties, in the south they remain open. In our view, this uncertainty causes much more damage to the economic interests of some countries than any other development of events could. The practice shows that bilateral agreements based on the principle of a modified median line allow neighboring states not only to resolve political conflicts, but also to strengthen economic ties through joint development of border fields.
According to preliminary data, the reserves of the Kyapaz field, which was expected to be operated for 35 years, amount to ca. 444 million barrels of oil and 32 billion cubic meters of gas. The American oil company Unocal had repeatedly stated that it was willing to participate in the project. It had conducted preliminary geological studies in the area in early 1994.
Kyapaz is a cross-border field located at the maritime border of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Probably, Azerbaijan and Russia could have discussed this agreement with Turkmenistan on the principles of good-neighbourly relations with Turkmenistan. The head of SOCAR, N. Aliyev, and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, H. Hasanov, considered participation of Turkmenistan possible in the development of the deposit.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, J. Keytonov, replied to the proposal of Russia and Azerbaijan to jointly participate in the contract: "If the Russian side had desired it, it would have held preliminary negotiations with us. At the moment the highest authorities in Turkmenistan are going to decide whether the agreement is legal. At this stage, Iran could also actively advance its rights to a number of Caspian deposits."
According to G. Hasanov, "Azerbaijan did not object to cooperation with Turkmenistan. Simply, our country was not always satisfied with the pace offered by the Turkmen side, and we cannot wait indefinitely." The proposed lucrative contracts had to take into account all the realities of the time. In the summer of 1996, during his visit to Moscow for the inauguration of Boris Yeltsin, President Niyazov signed a contract which was very lucrative for Russia. A consortium taking over control of all gas fields in Turkmenistan was established on the basis of this agreement. Their reserves, according to preliminary data, were estimated at 6 trillion cubic meters. The share of Russia's Gazprom in this contract amounted to 45%. Another 4% belonged to an international company called INTERSET, 70% of which was also owned by Gazprom, while the remaining 51% in the contract belonged to the Turkmen side.
According to the agency "Khabar," Rosneft informed SOCAR about its withdrawal from the project, explaining it wass due to political motives. But this did not mean that the agreement had been annulled, since before the agreement was signed Azerbaijan had informed Russian companies about existing serious disputes with Turkmenistan on the deposit. LUKOIL committed to resolve this problem with the help of the Russian government, but the actions of the company in this direction were unsuccessful. Hopes that Boris Yeltsin would persuade Niyazov did not materialize. Perhaps it was influenced by a division between politicians among the top leadership of Russia. Or perhaps the reason for this was the intention of a number of Russian leaders to demonstrate the "incompetence" of Boris Nemtsov. A number of Russian oil companies on whose feet he had stepped were against him.3 Deputy Prime Minister Nemtsov himself at this time was lying low in Sochi, waiting for the voltage to drop. A deeper study of this issue could lead to the conclusion that there was no full agreement among the parties to the contract, Rosneft and LUKOIL.
