DOI: https://doi.org/10.36719/2789-6919/57/57-66
Kamran Babayev
Baku State University
PhD student
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8639-5915
babayevk421@gmail.com
The Role of Great Britain in Azerbaijan's Energy Security Policy
Abstract
The article examines the role of Great Britain in Azerbaijan's energy security policy from historical, political, economic and institutional perspectives. It argues that UK-Azerbaijan relations were not limited to diplomatic recognition after independence, but from a very early stage became closely tied to the development of Azerbaijan's energy resources, the attraction of foreign capital, the diversification of export routes and the transformation of the energy sector into an instrument of geopolitical security. Special attention is paid to BP's activity in Azerbaijan, the 1994 Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli production sharing agreement, the geoeconomic framework created by the "Contract of the Century", and the broader investment flows that strengthened the material and institutional foundations of Azerbaijan's energy policy. The article demonstrates that Britain's role extends beyond oil and gas investment and also includes international legitimacy, technology transfer, energy diplomacy, institutional dialogue and, in the most recent period, cooperation related to green transition. The study concludes that Great Britain has been one of the main external partners of Azerbaijan both in the initial modernization of the energy sector and in the country's subsequent geoeconomic integration and low-carbon transition. At the same time, this cooperation does not amount to a full strategic alliance; rather, it should be understood as a pragmatic and selective strategic partnership built around overlapping interests.
Keywords: Azerbaijan, Great Britain, energy security, energy diplomacy, BP, foreign investment, geoeconomics, green energy transition