Azerbaijan's Energy Minister says Baku will export 3.5 billion cubic metres of gas to Europe by 2022

According to Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, Azerbaijan supplied 3.5 billion cubic metres of gas to Europe from January to April 2022.

Azerbaijan exported 7.6 billion cubic metres of gas during the reporting period. 46% of this gas was transferred to Europe, 2.9 billion cubic metres to Turkey (38%), and 1.2 billion cubic metres to Georgia (16%). Gas exports jumped 17.4% over the same time last year, according to the ministry. He also stated that the country generated 15.7 billion cubic metres of gas from January to April.

Furthermore, Shahbazov claimed that during the reporting period, Azerbaijan produced 11.1 million tonnes of oil and exported 9 million tonnes of oil.

SOCAR facing lawsuit alleging antitrust violations

The Azerbaijani State Service for Antimonopoly Control and Consumer Sector Supervision has received complaints regarding competition breaches in the oil products market. According to the article, an inquiry was conducted some time ago when individual businesses complained to the state agency that they had not received oil goods from SOCAR Petroleum CJSC.

It was determined that the purchasers were subjected to disadvantageous contract conditions, and a case was launched against the CJSC for antimonopoly legislation violations. Following a review of the case, CJSC was instructed to follow the contract's provisions in compliance with antimonopoly legislation requirements.

In addition, the civil service ordered the CJSC to pay $15.9 million in money earned as a consequence of SOCAR Petroleum CJSC's operations that do not comply with Azerbaijan's "On Price Regulation" and "On Antimonopoly Activity" legislation. The money will go to the Azerbaijani government's budget.

From July 2022, Bulgaria will get gas from Azerbaijan

Bulgaria will be able to obtain all of its gas from Azerbaijan starting July 1, 2022.

"From July 1, we will be able to get [all] gas from Azerbaijan; this delivery is not contingent on the construction of the interconnector with Greece," Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov stated.

In terms of Azerbaijani gas exports to Bulgaria, the nations agreed that 1 billion cubic metres of gas per year would be delivered through the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector beginning in 2022. Azerbaijani gas is sent to Bulgaria via the Kulata-Sidirokastro connecting point because the interconnector is still under construction. Only one-third of the agreed-upon volume is now delivered to the country.

It is worth mentioning that the SGC initiative allows not only Azerbaijan but also other countries to participate. Turkmenistan is currently negotiating in this respect. Azerbaijan will be able to earn more revenue for transit by recruiting other nations to the Southern Gas Corridor, which may be ascribed to non-oil industry revenues.

EU and Azerbaijan discussing possibility of expanding Caspian Sea gas export levels

Senior European Commission officials and Azerbaijan government representatives met to address energy problems in accordance with the EU-Azerbaijan Energy Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

According to reports, the meeting's goal was to continue and deepen collaboration in the energy sector to support national energy transitions while bolstering energy security.

“Following EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson’s participation in the Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council and the bilateral meetings between Commissioner Simson and the Azerbaijani authorities on 4 February 2022, a follow-up Energy MoU meeting took place, co-chaired by Cristina Lobillo Borrero, Director for Energy Policy, Strategy and Coordination at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, and Elnur Soltanov, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In a context of heightened global energy challenges, stable bilateral energy relations and cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan are a key factor contributing to competitive, diversified, and secure gas supplies. The EU stressed the importance of secure gas supplies in line with REPowerEU priorities and presented its key energy efficiency measures and its hydrogen strategy for a climate-neutral Europe,” reads a message from the European Commission.

Azerbaijan announces volume of deliveries of alternative gas to Europe

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) delivered 11.6 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe from the Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. This was announced by Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov at the round table entitled "Energy transition in South-Eastern Europe: regional cooperation in the field of energy security, diversification and transition to green energy" in Sofia.

The minister noted that the main areas of the energy dialogue with the EU after the meeting in February this year between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the European Union Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson are the decarbonisation of the energy sector, energy transition, energy efficiency, and expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor for export of additional volumes of blue fuel to Europe. In his speech, the head of the department of the Transcaucasian republic emphasised the importance of ensuring a sustainable, affordable, and secure energy supply, expressing confidence that the solution to this problem lies "not in the choice between diversification, energy security and green transition, but in their balanced unity." It was noted that the Southern Gas Corridor has proved its strategic importance during the energy crisis, providing European consumers with affordable natural gas, and Azerbaijan is "determined to continue its role as a reliable energy supplier both for the region and for (individual) European countries." “During the four months of this year, 3.5 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas were delivered to Europe, of which 3.1 billion cubic meters fell to Italy, 0.3 billion to Greece and 0.1 billion to Bulgaria. It is expected that with the current export rates, our gas supplies to Europe will exceed 10 billion cubic meters by the end of the year,” Shahbazov said.