SOUTHERN GAS CORRIDOR

Azerbaijan has consistently shown its willingness to boost gas supplies and provide assistance to Europe during times of crisis. Through President Ilham Aliyev's well-defined energy strategy, the country has established itself as a dependable and trustworthy energy partner for Europe. The EU countries are progressively reinforcing their energy alliances with Azerbaijan and actively endorsing all related initiatives.

If Turkmenistan does not act before the EU lines up alternate sources of gas, the Trans-Caspian Pipeline project will become unviable, Allan Mustard, co-founder and co-head of the Trans-Caspian Resources energy startup, Former US Ambassador to Turkmenistan, told Trend.

Bulgaria is interested in the Green Corridor Project, which involves the transportation of green energy from the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan) through the Black Sea (Georgia) to Europe, the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan told Trend.

Italy purchased natural gas worth 842 722 785 euros from Azerbaijan via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in January 2023, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, told Trend.

Azerbaijan’s natural gas exports to Italy stood at 732 675 000 cubic meters last year, according to Eurostat.

Total spending of EU countries on Azerbaijani gas imports in January 2023 amounted to 1 006 939 047 euros and the volume of supplies stood at 972.9 million cubic meters.

Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania are preparing an agreement for gas supplies from Azerbaijan, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, said, following the meeting of the ministers of the countries of Organization of Turkic States, Trend reports via Hungarian media.

According to the minister, an agreement has been reached to launch the supply of 100 million cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan to Hungary this year.

The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will allocate additional 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas from 2026, said Luca Schieppati, TAP Managing Director at the European Gas Conference, Trend reports.

“TAP recently triggered the first level of capacity expansion. The additional 1.2 bcm to be allocated from 2026 will be the initial phase of the process until capacity is reached to 20 bcm per year,” he said.

Commissioning of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on time was very crucial, Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt told Greek media, Trend reports.

He believes that this enabled Europe to successfully pass the winter test.

Pyatt went on to add that liquified natural gas supplies also played an important role in Europe’s energy diversification.

Four EU countries are setting up a working group for the project to boost Azerbaijani gas imports, Slovakian Ministry of Economy told Trend.

Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria have asked the European Commission to allocate funds for developing infrastructure to get additional natural gas from Azerbaijan. It is about developing the existing infrastructure, construction of new interconnectors and expanding the capacity of the existing ones.

Azerbaijan will become an important green energy and hydrogen supplier to Europe in the near future, said Azerbaijan’s energy minister Parviz Shahbazov, Trend reports.

He was addressing the ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council held in Baku Feb.3.

Parviz Shahbazov said that the Green Energy Advisory Council, along with the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council, proves that along with natural gas, green energy is a priority for Azerbaijan.

Amid global economic instability, Azerbaijan’s mitigating role in energy crisis is rapidly increasing. With Azerbaijan and the EU agreeing on doubling the supplies of Azerbaijani gas by 2027, the country’s gas exports to Europe are expected to be 20 bcm, while this year at least 11.6 bcm is planned to be supplied. Moreover, Azerbaijan’s total gas exports this year are expected at 24 bcm.