Azerbaijan is conducting negotiations on expanding natural gas supply to European Union (EU) countries, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the opening ceremony of the 4th Shusha Global Media Forum, entitled "The Mission of the Media in Promoting Peace: Restoring Truth and Rebuilding Trust."
"We have started gas exports to Austria and Germany this year. This is a part of our overall strategy to strengthen our presence in the European and global markets. The European market is a premium market, the best prices are there, and naturally, we are interested in expanding our capabilities there. Yes, we are already transporting gas via pipelines to 16 countries. In this regard, we are number one worldwide and these capabilities will be expanded. We are also conducting negotiations with other members of the European Union. Negotiations are underway regarding both the initiation of supply and the increase of volumes, and there are requests in this regard. Today, Azerbaijan is a reliable partner, a predictable source, and compared to 10 years ago, our role is more important," the head of state noted.
Aliyev further stated that a relevant work program has been developed and an investment portfolio has been created to increase natural gas production: "At the same time, work is underway on renewable energy. Thanks to this, we will save gas. By 2032, we will bring the volume of renewable energy to 8 gigawatts, and this will be sufficient for us to save 2-3 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Today, the saved gas is used for electricity production. These two important factors, the gas production portfolio and profile, are being expanded, and there is a needed market. And we need to expand the transportation infrastructure here. Our gas infrastructure was designed for the period before the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war. At that time, our forecasts and strategy consisted of either extending the production process and keeping these volumes stable or investing more and producing more gas. But after the war started, demand for Azerbaijani gas sharply increased. The European Commission appealed to us that Azerbaijan should do everything possible to increase production. We achieved this. During Mrs [Ursula] von der Leyen's visit, figures were announced. Compared to 2022, we increased exports to the European Union by 65%, and this figure will continue to grow. That is, the expansion of the existing transportation infrastructure is important."
According to him, the problematic issue here is Europe's green agenda, and European banks today do not want to invest in fossil fuel energy: "Therefore, the question arises: where should the financial resources for this be obtained? The other issue, which is, of course, probably even more important, is long-term contracts. We also discussed this with Mrs von der Leyen. We need long-term contracts. We need large investments to sharply increase production, and if at some stage we are told 'thank you, we no longer need your gas,' this would be unacceptable. Also, there is the issue of diversification. We are transporting gas to markets that we could not have even imagined in previous years.
For example, we are transporting gas to Syria. That is, from Syria, we can also move to neighboring countries, where there is also great demand. So, in our contacts with European partners, we convey the message that we need long-term contracts and there is a need to jointly expand the gas transportation system. And in relations with the European Commission, I have already mentioned this, we are very satisfied with this cooperation, and the frequent visits of the leaders of that organization to our country is also unprecedented.
Because from March to July, the European Commission president, the European Council president, the head of diplomacy – and all these visits were very successful, the results were very good. We held detailed negotiations and discussions, not only on bilateral issues but also on processes taking place at the global level."
