US official: Azerbaijan among world's most important energy producers

Azerbaijan is one of the world's most important producers of energy resources, and the United States benefits greatly from this partnership, Caleb Orr, US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs, said at a press conference held as part of the first Azerbaijan-US Economic Dialogue, Report informs.

"We believe that today Azerbaijan is one of the world's most important producers of energy resources, and the United States derives significant benefits from this partnership. We expect these relations to expand and strengthen considerably in the coming years," he said.

According to him, the goal of the Azerbaijan-US economic dialogue is to bring together the two countries" economic initiatives, develop a plan for their implementation and achieve practical results.

He said Washington is currently working on a number of new proposals in the energy sector and intends to expand existing investment cooperation.

In particular, as part of Baku Energy Week, the US delegation held a meeting with ExxonMobil. Orr recalled that last year, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding on new geological exploration work in Azerbaijan.

"The United States seeks to play a more important role in the development of the pipeline and other energy infrastructure built by Azerbaijan," he said.

In addition, Washington plans to contribute to strengthening Azerbaijan's role as a key transit hub of the Middle Corridor.

"We expect that, thanks to President Trump's TRIPP initiative, we will be able to help Azerbaijan strengthen its role as the central hub of the Middle Corridor for the transit of energy resources to Europe and other regions of the world," Orr said.