Azerbaijan can meet its goal of doubling natural gas exports to Europe, President Ilham Aliyev said, although his country has not yet secured long-term sales agreements, it needs to invest billions to increase production.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan, an oil and gas-rich country, has been designated to organize the next United Nations Climate Summit, COP29, in 2024, after the United Arab Emirates hosted COP28 this year.
Gas exports from the Caspian country to Europe will increase to 12 billion cubic meters (bcm) this year, compared with 8 bcm in 2021, showing that Azerbaijan is “confidently moving towards the goal” of doubling supply until 2027, Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan, which began selling gas to Europe in 2020, last year agreed with the European Commission to increase its volumes to 20 bcm over the next five years. The country has been approached by more than 10 European countries seeking gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but discussions have been inconclusive, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Serbia will be the seventh European country to receive gas from Azerbaijan, Aliyev said in comments carried by the state news agency Azartac. State energy company Socar agreed in November to export up to 400 million cubic meters of gas to Serbia next year.
Exports to Bulgaria will grow to almost 1 billion cubic meters this year, up from 500 million cubic meters in 2022 and 270 million cubic meters in 2021, Aliyev said.
European buyers are hesitant to commit to fossil fuels over the next few decades and other options, such as additional liquefied natural gas from suppliers such as Qatar and the US, will begin to flow in the coming years.
Unlike permanent pipelines, most new LNG infrastructure involves floating terminals, which can be shut down and moved elsewhere when demand changes.