More Azerbaijani Gas to Reach Europe Amidst Increasing Demand: President Aliyev

During a recent interview with local TV channels, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the vital role of Azerbaijan's energy and transport sectors in driving the country's economic growth. He noted that natural gas exports to Europe are steadily increasing, while investments in the transport sector are focused on turning it into a sustainable and reliable source of income.

Key points highlighted by President Aliyev on energy and transport include:

Growing demand for Azerbaijani gas

• Our gas exports are growing, and we are now expanding the geography of gas supplies using different infrastructure projects, the main one being the Southern Gas Corridor, but also extensions. Due to the new interconnectors, which have been inaugurated relatively recently in Europe, our access to different markets is possible.
• In 2022, as you know, when the Russia-Ukraine war led to disruption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, the European Commission turned to Azerbaijan, asking us to help. At that time, the President of the European Commission came to Baku. So, we said “Okay, we are ready to help you and to increase, to double our gas supply to Europe.” At that time, our gas supply to Europe was 7 billion cubic meters.
• We started to invest and look for opportunities to move our gas through different interconnectors. Since then, the number of countries in Europe that are now recipients of our gas has grown, and now it's equal to 10. So, in total, it's 12 countries, and 10 of them are European, with eight out of the 10 being EU members.
• Since 2022 until now, it has been a dramatic change. Because at that time, our gas exports were limited to Georgia, Türkiye, Greece, and Italy - that was it. Then, we added Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Slovakia, and Croatia.
• Our future plans are to expand the geography. We are already in negotiations with some other European countries, which are close to those already receiving our gas.
• Our proven resources are growing. Many years ago, they were estimated at the level of 2.6 trillion cubic meters, but now, with new discoveries and more to come, it will be more. This year, we hope to get the first gas from ACG, the so-called “Deep Gas” project, which will be a substantial contribution to overall gas production. We are planning to work with the partners to increase gas production from the Absheron field from 1.5 to 5 bcm, understanding that the main supply of gas will still be Shah Deniz, which will remain as it is; and many more promising projects like Karabakh, Babek, Asiman, and others. This will increase our potential.

One-stop-shop transport network is in the making

• The goal of the establishment of the Azerbaijan Transport and Communication Holding is to create the transport sector as a platform under a single umbrella. 
• Coordination between transport institutions was weak and considering that our main source of income and one of the factors strengthening our political weight will be transport and connectivity in the coming years, of course, we had to create a fully transparent and coordinated mechanism here.
• The process of digitalization of the transport sector is underway. Necessary measures have been taken and instructions have been given in this direction, including the ability of the sender to constantly monitor his cargo during customs clearance, and artificial obstacles, violations, as well as natural delays, will be eliminated. Because we must make the East-West transport corridor more economically viable through the correct regulation of tariffs. We must also eliminate artificial obstacles so that cargo can be transported even faster.
• As for tariffs, there is one tariff for the railway, one for the international port, and one for shipping, and there is a discrepancy between these tariffs. There are many other details that necessitated the creation of a unified system, and we have created it. I am sure that the institution to be formed will soon prove effective.