The Importance of Azerbaijan's Energy Revenues in its Exports Volume and the Effects on the National Economy

Abstract

Large energy reserves have been a major contributor to the Azerbaijan economy, and effected the country's exports volume, and have become a main determinant of the country's economic structure. Azerbaijan is a country that has major oil and gas based economy with the completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline in 2005 and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Gas Pipeline in 2007. First export oil was pumped into Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan in May 2005, and the oil reached Ceyhan in May 2006. On the other hand, first export gas was pumped into Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum in March 2007. The importance of country energy source revenues on Azerbaijan's export volume and the effects on national economy has increased with the completion of these pipelines year after year. Azeri export’s reliance on energy source revenues keeps dominant position in Azerbaijan’s exports despite efforts to diversify Azerbaijan’s economy away from oil. Finally, crude oil made 86 percent and oil products made 6 percent, so oil and oil products made 92 percent of Azerbaijan’s export in 2011. Non oil products made up only 8 percent of the country’s export last year. Thus, non-oil sector contribution to Azerbaijani export was lower than Georgian export in 2011. This means that increasing of total export volume of Azerbaijan is not sustainable.