VZCZCXRO5128
PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHKB #0741/01 2200428
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070428Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5796
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000741 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR FOR MATT BRYZA; EEB FOR STEVE MANN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG EPET EINT PREL AZ TX TU
SUBJECT: SOCAR EXPLAINS AZERBAIJAN-TURKMENISTAN OIL AND GAS 
CONFERENCE, BAKU, SEPT 9-10 
 
REF: A. BAKU 717 
     ¶B. BAKU 383 
     ¶C. IIR 6 941 0063 08 
     ¶D. ASHGABAT 817 
     ¶E. ASHGABAT 958 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  SOCAR's Vice President told Embassy 
officers that the September 9-10 Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan 
joint oil and gas conference will be light on debate and 
heavy on official presentations, much like former Soviet 
exhibitions.  This format, Azerbaijan believes, will ensure 
Turkmenistan's participation and continue the trend of 
improving bilateral relations.  Key conversation, the SOCAR 
executive said, must take place on the margins, where 
delegations can be more candid.  Azerbaijan's and 
Turkmenistan's delegations will likely be led at the First 
Deputy Prime Minister level.  End Summary 
 
"Exhibition, Not Conference" 
---------------------- 
¶2. (SBU) Embassy Officers met July 29 with State Oil Company 
of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Vice President Elshad Nassirov to 
discuss plans for the proposed September 9-10 
Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan joint oil and gas conference, which 
will take place in Baku.  Nassirov emphasized the unique 
nature of the conference, which will involve an official 
delegation from Ashgabat traveling to Azerbaijan for 
participation.  Until recently, Nassirov noted, such a joint 
conference could not have been possible, as Azerbaijan and 
Turkmenistan, struggling with Caspian Sea delimitation 
issues, conflicting claims on oil and gas fields and energy 
debts, had cut official relations.  Over the past year or 
more - since the death of the former Turkmen President 
Niyazov - that relationship has been on the mend, despite 
continuing unresolved issues and several bumps and bruises 
along the way (reftels). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Nassirov explained that the September event would be 
more an "exhibition," like oil and gas shows during Soviet 
times," than a conference in a Western context.  Officials 
from each side will be invited to make comments, without 
taking questions from the audience.  There will not likely be 
roundtables or open debate, Nassirov said, but rather "lots 
of booths with posters and literature."  This format is 
necessary, Nassirov said, to ensure Turkmenistan's 
participation.  Key conversations, he underscored, will take 
place on the margins, aside from the official program. 
 
Not for Discussion 
------------------ 
¶4. (SBU) Nassirov added that several key issues would not be 
on the table for discussion, including Caspian Sea 
delimitation, production proposals for the disputed 
Kyapaz-Serdar field and management of oil revenues.  Embassy 
officers noted that without these issues the conference 
agenda could be rather short.  Nassirov said that with 
Turkmenistan "we must take one step at a time."  He 
emphasized that the conference would be a "discussion of 
resources."  Looking at his visitors, he also suggested that 
participants refrain from raising human rights and democracy 
issues related to Turkmenistan at the conference. 
 
Participants 
----------- 
¶5. (SBU) Nassirov said that Presidents would not likely 
participate in the conference, as it would be highly unlikely 
for President Berdimuhamedov to travel to Baku again so 
quickly.  (The Turkmen President visited Azerbaijan in late 
spring; President Aliyev has not yet traveled to Ashgabat.) 
Nassirov expects the conference to be led at the First Deputy 
Prime Minister level, with DPM Tachberdy Tagiyev leading the 
delegation from Ashgabat.  Nassirov said that European and 
American officials and company representatives will be 
invited, including those involved in the Nabucco pipeline 
project.  The SOCAR Vice President also said that GazProm and 
"the Vice President of the National Iranian Gas Company" 
would be invited. 
 
Follow Up - USG Delegation 
---------------------------- 
¶6.  (SBU) Following the meeting with SOCAR, Embassy officers 
sent the following list of U.S. officials to the MFA as 
recommendations for participation: 
 
 
BAKU 00000741  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶C. Boyden Gray, U.S. Department of State Special Envoy for 
Eurasian Energy 
Daniel Fried, U.S. Department of State, Assistant Secretary 
for European Affairs 
Richard Boucher, U.S. Department of State, Assistant 
Secretary for South and Central Asia 
Samuel Bodman, U.S. Secretary of Energy 
Anne Derse, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan 
Sylvia Curran, Charge d'Affaires, U.S. Embassy Ashgabat 
 
Alternates and/or additions will be accepted.  These names, 
according to MFA, have been forwarded to the Ministry of 
Energy and conference organizers. 
 
Private Sector Participation 
--------------------------- 
¶7. (U) The Embassy has also been in contact with ITECA, which 
is organizing the conference.  Private sector parties should 
contact ITECA as follows: 
 
ITECA 
Nigar Muradkhanli 
Conference Manager 
Tel:  994 12 447 4774 
Fax:  994 12 447 8998 
email: conference@iteca.az 
 
Registration and participation are free of charge. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment:  The conference - or exhibition -- stands 
as a watershed event for Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.  The 
bilateral relationship is still less than perfect and Caspian 
delimitation issues remain, but the two sides are forming a 
working relationship on offshore natural gas production and 
export.  Major agreements and/or contracts are unlikely to be 
signed at this event, but, with Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and 
Nabucco partners in the same room for two days, progress on 
production and transit could be made, as President Aliyev has 
demanded by year's end. 
DERSE