President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso and other officials, who are on an official visit to Azerbaijan, visited the Sangachal terminal in Azerbaijan on Friday.

The Congolese officials were welcomed at the Caspian Energy Centre of the terminal by SOCAR President Rovshan Najaf and bp's Vice President for the Caspian region Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli.

Gulvami Rahimli, Senior Government Affairs Advisor for bp AGT Region, provided them with information about Azerbaijan's oil history. They were informed that the oil wells drilled in 1846 at Bibiheybat in the Baku region were the first mechanically-drilled oil wells in the world. Additionally, Azerbaijan commenced oil extraction from the open sea in 1949 at the "Oil Rocks" field in the Caspian Sea, marking the world's first offshore oil platform. This historic achievement was recognized and entered into the Guinness Book of World Records.

After Azerbaijan regained its independence, under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev, a production sharing agreement on the development of the gigantic “Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli” field, touted as the Contract of the Century, was signed with the participation of 11 international oil companies representing 7 world countries. The contract gave a major impetus to the rapid development of the country, transforming it into a regional energy hub.

While touring the terminal, the Congolese guests were given detailed information about the technological processes at the terminal.

Rahimli noted that the Sangachal Terminal was considered “the beating heart” of Azerbaijan`s oil and gas industry. It is an oil and gas terminal where crude oil and gas produced from Azerbaijani fields in the Caspian Sea are received, processed, stored and exported. Oil from Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli and gas from Shah-Deniz fields flow into the terminal and are exported largely via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and the Southern Caucasus pipelines. It was noted that the length of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline constitutes 1,768 kilometers, of which 443 kilometers run through Azerbaijan, 249 kilometers through Georgia, and 1,076 kilometers through Turkiye. The Sangachal Terminal, considered one of the largest and profitable oil and gas terminals around the world, covers an area of more than 688 hectares. Its daily processing capacity is more than 1.2 billion barrels of crude oil and over 81 billion cubic meters of gas. The facility stores 3.2 million barrels of crude oil. The territory boasts an extensive network of pipelines and facilities, enabling the transportation of high-quality Azerbaijani crude oil and gas to world markets.

The control center at the terminal provides comprehensive monitoring of export pipelines passing through the territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye, enabling the detection of any operational issues.

The delegation received detailed information about the ongoing works at the terminal as part of the "Shah Deniz-2" and South Caucasus Pipeline expansion projects. They also acquainted themselves with the primary pumping station at the beginning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main export oil pipeline.

The dignitaries were informed that the Sangachal Terminal plays a pivotal role in positioning Azerbaijan as a crucial hub at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.