Azerbaijan plans to boost gas exports to Europe | Popgen Tech

Azerbaijan has plans to increase exports of natural gas to Europe next year, according to the country’s president, Ilham Aliyev.

“Export of gas [to Europe] reached 8.2 billion cubic meters last year and 11.3 billion cubic meters this year and is expected to be around 11.6 billion cubic meters next year,” Aliyev said, as quoted by Russian Interfax.

“It is a win-win situation, because Europe needs to strengthen its energy security, and Azerbaijan needs a reliable market to sell the immense amount of its energy resources,” the Azeri president also said.

In total, Azerbaijan aims to export 24 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2023, with 11.6 billion cubic meters going to Europe.

Aliyev was speaking at a gathering in Romania, where Azerbaijan, Romania, Hungary and Georgia signed an agreement to build a new power connection from the Central Asian country to Europe. At the same gathering, Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas company also entered into agreements for the supply of natural gas to Romania.

Europe is actively seeking new sources of natural gas amid its sanctions crusade against Russia to which Russia has responded by reducing the flow of gas to the continent, where Russian gas accounted for 40 percent of supply until this year.

This year, in the period from January to November, Europe imported 10.3 billion cubic meters of Azeri gas. Turkey imported 7.6 billion cubic meters of Azeri gas, the Azeri energy minister said, with the country’s gas exports in the first 11 months of the year up 19 percent on last year’s.

Azerbaijan is one option for Europe to replace Russian gas, but it will have to increase its production significantly if it wants to make a difference to the European Union’s energy security: Russia’s gas exports to the bloc amounted to around 150 billion cubic meters last year.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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