According to the results of 2024, the volume of Azerbaijani gas exports will amount to 25 billion cubic meters, of which 13 billion cubic meters will go to Europe, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said.
“If in 2021 the total volume of gas exports was 18 billion cubic meters, then this year this figure will be 25 billion cubic meters,” Aliyev said on Thursday during a speech at the “Energy and Interconnection” round table, which took place within the framework of the 4th summit “European Political Union” in Oxford.
The leader of Azerbaijan also noted that if in 2021 gas supplies from the country to Europe amounted to 8 billion cubic meters, then this year this indicator will approach 13 billion cubic meters.
“The strategic partnership (with the EU – IF-U), which we defined in Baku (in July 2022 – IF-U) in the field of energy, provides for the doubling of our gas supplies to Europe by the end of 2027 (up to 20 billion cubic meters – IF- IN). We are moving towards this goal,” Aliyev noted.
He noted that Azerbaijan’s natural gas is bought by Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Hungary and Romania, which are members of the European Union. Two buyer countries are candidates for joining the Union – Georgia and Serbia, and Turkey also buys Azerbaijani gas.
Aliyev expressed hope that in a few months Azerbaijan will be able to enter the Slovenian gas market. “Now, as European interconnector projects are implemented, additional opportunities will appear for the export of Azerbaijani gas to a larger number of European countries,” the president emphasized.
The President said that the European Commission considers Azerbaijan a reliable partner in the field of energy, as well as a pan-European supplier of gas. “We are trying to do everything in order to fulfill our obligation to deliver 20 billion cubic meters to the EU by 2027. This is our goal. We have the resources and infrastructure for this. We need to speed up the negotiation process with new partners, primarily with Slovenia and Slovakia, and work on increasing gas supplies to existing markets, as our supplies to Italy amount to 9 billion cubic meters, and it needs 20 billion cubic meters,” the Azerbaijani leader said.
He also noted that Azerbaijan is a reliable supplier of oil. “Currently, from the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey, we supply oil to various destinations, including very sensitive destinations that are heavily dependent on Azerbaijani oil. In some countries, the consumption of Azerbaijani oil is 50 percent or more of their demand,” Aliyev emphasized.
