The changes are coming fast, weeks after deadly riots jolted the ex-Soviet state, with key resignations and longstanding institutions undergoing being modified or overturned.

In 2019, the country completed the construction of three new petrochemical plants producing polypropylene, carbamide and high-density polyethylene.

The average price of Azeri oil rises amid a deficit on the world oil market and fears of a reduction in oil supplies from Russia, one of the major suppliers globally.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an urgent meeting with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to stop the fighting that has engulfed much of the country and sent more than a million Ukrainians fleeing across international borders. He repeated calls for a Western-installed “no fly zone” over Ukraine and, failing that, asked for aircraft to bolster his country’s defences.

The World Bank and the IMF are also working together to assess the economic and financial impact of the conflict and refugees on other countries in the region and the world.

Urals crude is exported by both pipeline and sea. Seaborne deliveries are via two other major routes -- Primorsk and Ust Luga on the Baltic Sea and Novorossiisk on the Black Sea.

Azerbaijan is now set to produce 675,000 bpd in March and 682,000 bpd in April.