A famous geologist and geophysicist who brought up more than one generation of oilmen, an internationally recognized Azerbaijani geologist who knows the subsoil of the Caspian Sea like «the back of his hand», academician Khoshbakht Yusifzade has turned 90 this year.
Khoshbakht Yusifzade played a major role in developing Azerbaijan’s oil and gas industry both during the Soviet period and the years of independence. Khoshbakht Yusifzade was honored with the highest award, the Heydar Aliyev order, for his outstanding services to the country.
20 oil and gas condensate fields, including such fields as «Bahar», «Guneshli», «Azeri», «Chirag», «Kyapaz» and others, were discovered under his leadership and direct involvement. In addition, Khoshbakht Yusifzade is known as an author of more than 200 research papers, 18 monographs and 8 inventions included into the golden fund of the oil science of Azerbaijan.
A high status among the discovered fields is given to «Azeri», «Chirag» and «Guneshli» with initial proven reserves of 511 million tons, which then increased up to 1 billion tons in accordance with the forecast of K.Yusifzade. The term of development of this field has been extended at least till the year of 2050.
“We permanently stay in touch with Mr. Yusifzade. After drilling each new exploration well or in case of a good flow rate in any well, Mr. Yusifzafe is the first to tell me about it. Therefore, when he calls me, I know that I will hear good news”, the President of Azerbaijan said at the awarding ceremony. Successfully implementing the oil strategy initiated by the great leader Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan has directed oil revenues towards the overall development of our country. That is why we are currently ranked first in the CIS in terms of foreign exchange reserves per capita”.
«In 1997, - I. Aliyev continued, - after signing the contract for Absheron field, seismic works were carried out and the location of the exploration well was determined. Mr. Yusifzade then told foreign partners that they had chosen the wrong site of the well, there would be no reserves discovered. They thought that he is an old man, while they have seismic facilities, specialists, thousands of employees, trade turnover reaching billions of dollars and the capitalization measured in the tens of billions. Who cares what some geologist may say. They gave no prominence and regretted because they did not listen to Mr. Yusifzade and drilled the well idly. Thus, the contract was terminated, and they had to leave Azerbaijan and this field. However, a few years later, another company showed interest in Absheron field. The contract was signed again, the site of the exploration well was chosen correctly, which resulted in discovery of large reserves.
«Back in the 1990s, Mr. Yusifzade said that the gas reserves at Absheron field were at least 300 billion cubic meters. I can’t say how he knew this, but today the reality has shown that. A foreign company came to the same conclusion, and at the end of this or next year we will receive the first gas at Absheron field in the volume of 1.5 billion cubic meters. It is a mere indicator. Putting it in the words of Mr. Yusifzade, he knows the Caspian Sea inside and out. Khoshbakht Yusifzade has great merits in determination of the Caspian Sea legal status, as he participated in all the summits, and his words were perceived as absolute truth at the events. The legal status of the Caspian Sea was determined two years ago and an agreement was reached. But there had been numerous disputes before that happened, and the presence of Mr.Yusifzade in our delegation has always strengthened our position”, President of Azerbaijan stressed.
“I live a happy life filled with work for the welfare of my country», said the hero of the anniversary. «Although many of my age mates retired long time ago, I can’t imagine myself without my favorite job, without fighting for the Azerbaijani oil, without new discoveries and introduction of modern technologies, without traveling and meeting new people. Now is not the time to quit despite the fact that lying behind are dozens of discovered fields, many awards and scientific papers, work on dozens of contracts signed later, among which the most significant was the «Contract of the Century». Because there are still many achievements mapped for many years to come by our great national leader Heydar Aliyev, and no less wisely and consistently followed by his son, our esteemed President, Mr. Ilham Aliyev. My heart is filled with pride for sovereign Azerbaijan whose greatness has seen my modest contribution as well», Khoshbakht Yusifzade noted.
