EAG Executes Two Energy Security and Resilience Events in Baku, Azerbaijan

By Tahmina Karimova and Larry Walzer Faculty Associates-Research Energy Academic Group

The Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Energy Academic Group (EAG) successfully executed two events in Baku, Azerbaijan: the Advanced Regional Energy Security Symposium (ARESS) and the Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection (CEIP) Analysis Workshop.     

The ARESS was conducted on the ADA University campus in Baku, Azerbaijan 6–10 September 2021. This symposium was carried out in partnership with the NATO Energy Security Center of Excellence (Vilnius, Lithuania) and ADA University (Baku, Azerbaijan). The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and British Petroleum (BP) also supported the symposium with speakers and participants. Several ministries participated and presented on topics related to emergency preparedness, civil defense and resilience, energy security, and industry. The engagement included information exchanges, presentations, panel discussions, and case studies regarding multiple topics related to energy security such as cyber security, critical energy infrastructure protection/resilience, threats to energy infrastructure, and cases studies, and included group breakout sessions and briefings. A notable highlight of the program was a panel discussion between senior representatives including Earle D. Litzenberger, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, and Dr. Alparslan Bayraktar, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, who provided a virtual keynote presentation.     

The symposium serves as an ongoing collaboration effort led by the NPS EAG and partners. There is a shared desire to expand the program as a future offering and to include greater regional participation from Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.