BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 23. SOCAR Trading has proposed the creation of an energy exchange in Baku, Anar Habib, Senior Trader for Middle Distillates at SOCAR Trading, said at the 2nd Forum on Logistics and Oil Trade in the Caspian and Central Asian Regions in Baku, Trend reports.
“The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline is constantly exposed to risks related to geopolitical conflicts. And of course, from time to time, we have to adjust production volumes to ensure the transportation of the required amount through CPC. One of the topics that has been discussed for a long time among traders, sellers, and buyers in the Caspian region is the creation of an effective hedging mechanism in this part of the world. Perhaps today I’m presenting a somewhat futuristic idea, but every such idea has its time for implementation. Therefore, I believe that at some point, the opportunity will arise to create a commodity exchange platform in Baku – either a commodity or an energy exchange,” he said.
According to him, such a project could be implemented in the form of a joint venture with existing exchanges in London, such as ICE, with the support of leading global banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.
“I’m confident they would be happy to become part of such an initiative in Baku,” Anar Habib added.