Mikhail Dzhabbarov
In an interview with Azertag, Economy Minister Mikail Jabbarov stated that the construction of the oil refinery will be one of Azerbaijan’s largest investment projects in the coming years. The decision to proceed with construction has already been made.
“This will be a state-of-the-art oil refinery that, so to speak, meets today’s requirements. We are talking not only about industrial and environmental standards, but also about compliance with modern requirements in terms of the business model,” the minister noted.
The plant will produce not only liquid fuel but also next-generation petrochemical products. Currently, under the coordination of the relevant government commission, SOCAR has begun implementing this project with state support.
Baku views the future of the country’s oil and gas sector with optimism, but believes that this sector should no longer be approached as a purely oil and gas industry, but more broadly—as the energy sector as a whole:
“Because the ways in which people, companies, and enterprises consume energy are changing, and we, too, must be prepared for this.”
It should be noted that Azerbaijan’s oil and gas sector accounts for 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
At the same time, over the past six years, Azerbaijan has managed to nearly double the volume of its non-oil exports. This growth trend continues this year. In the first four months of this year, the volume of non-oil exports grew by more than 17 percent.
“If we look at the structure of our economy and gross domestic product in 2025, we can see that more than 71 percent of the country’s economy—specifically 71.5 percent—is accounted for by the non-oil sector. This means that the oil and gas sector accounts for less than 30 percent. If we look back twenty years, we see that this figure did not even reach 45 percent, hovering around 43.5–43.6 percent. This demonstrates the progress we have made. “This shows that the current policy is successful,” Jabbarov stated.
