7 WDAM: Oil-Rich Azerbaijan Looks to Get Rich from West, Russian Tension

Oil-rich Azerbaijan is looking for ways to bolster its economy after a year of weak crude prices.

On Friday, the first ever staging of the European Games gets started in the capital Baku.

The country needs the tourist dollars.

In Azerbaijan, they know the meaning of 'peak oil.'

They're living it.

One of the most profitable offshore oil fields in the world is now in decline.

Production is slowing at ACG Deepwater, about 60 miles off the coast of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea. The nation is located between Russia and Iran on the Caspian.

And the price per barrel is down sharply.

"Do I look worried?" said Elshad Nassirov, vice-president of Socar.

Nassirov is a vice president at Socar, Azerbaijan's national oil company.

As a matter of strategy he says decreasing production is just not an option.

"Our production which is now about one and a half percent. I would say that we have to increase our production in order to provide alternative, neutral oil and gas to the world markets,” he said.

Read the full article HERE.