Azerbaijan welcomes Spain’s renewed interest in Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said in an interview with EFE Comunicación, Spain’s leading news agency, News.Az reports.
FM Bayramov noted that Azerbaijan has been a long-time, reliable partner for Europe as an oil and oil products supplier, and Spain is among the top ten countries buying crude oil from Azerbaijan.
According to Bayramov, since the beginning of 2021, with the completion of the 3,500-kilometer-long SGC, Azerbaijan’s role as a reliable energy partner to Europe has strengthened.
“We consider Spain a very good partner in the SGC project as well,” the minister said, referring to the participation of the Spanish Enagas energy company, which owns 16 percent as a shareholder in the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) - the second part of the SGC.
Bayramov also referred to the Memorandum of Understanding signed on July 18 in Baku by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev regarding the strategic partnership in energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU.
“This agreement has several important elements, one of which is the increase of Azerbaijan's gas supplies to the European market over the next five years that will double and grow from 10 billion to 20 billion cubic meters of gas,” the top diplomat added.