Azerbaijan targets gas supplies to 10 countries

Azerbaijan is looking to increase the number of countries it delivers gas to from six to 10, as part of a push to expand its market share in Europe, replacing lost Russian supply, Azeri president Ilham Aliyec said on April 25.

“Today, Azeri gas is exported to Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Italy, and starting this year to Romania,” the president said on April 25 during a visit to Sofia. “By the end of this year, subject to the availability of all necessary interconnectors, we plan to start supplying gas to Hungary and Slovakia.”

Negotiations continue between Azerbaijan and Albania on developing a local gas distribution system in the latter country, which currently lacks a gas grid. Azerbaijan is also in talks with Slovakia on the Solidarity Ring initiative that would bring more Azeri gas to south and central Europe. Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR also signed a memorandum of understanding with gas transmission system operators in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia on the initiative on April 26. 

“We will increase the geography of our gas supplies from six to at least 10 countries,” Aliyev said. “We plan to expand our presence in the European gas market.”

Azerbaijan delivered 8bn m3 of gas to Europe in 2021 and supplies are set to reach 12bn m3 this year, the president said. Under a preliminary agreement last year between Baku and the European Commission last year, gas deliveries from Azerbaijan to the EU are set to increase to 20bn m3 by 2027.

Azerbaijan has a raft of new upstream projects in the pipeline to expand its gas supply. But the only one currently under development is the Absheron field operated by TotalEnergies.