The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, announced that the republic is prepared to increase gas supplies to Europe.
"Since 2022, there have been significant changes in the geography of our gas exports. At that time, four countries were purchasing our gas; today, that number has reached 12. (...) We are negotiating gas supplies with several other European countries. These are countries close to those already receiving our gas. I believe that supplying gas to new countries will be possible in the coming years," Aliyev stated in an interview with Azerbaijani television channels on Tuesday.
According to him, Azerbaijan has sufficient gas reserves. "If a few years ago our gas reserves were estimated at 2.6 trillion cubic meters, today, due to new discoveries and future projects, the reserves will be greater," he noted.
Aliyev emphasized that by 2025, Azerbaijan hopes to obtain the first so-called deep-lying gas from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field, which will make a significant contribution to the overall gas production in the country.
"We plan to work with partners to increase gas production from the Absheron field from 1.5 to 5 billion cubic meters per year," he remarked, adding that the Shah Deniz field will continue to be the main source of gas.
He mentioned that Azerbaijan has other promising projects, such as Karabakh, Babek, Asiman, and others, and the implementation of these projects will enhance Azerbaijan's potential.
Aliyev added that Azerbaijan is ready to increase gas supplies to Europe, but this requires additional investments to expand existing interconnectors or possibly build new ones.
"We strive to assist the EU in addressing the gas shortage. However, we are also facing a situation where European banks are no longer funding fossil fuel projects. It turns out that on one hand, they ask us for additional supplies, and on the other hand, they deprive us of financial resources," he pointed out.
Aliyev believes it is also necessary to resolve the issue of the supply schedule, as the share of fossil fuels in the EU will decrease with the transition to green energy. "Therefore, many questions remain open, and we are addressing them during regular consultations with European officials. If the European Union needs more gas from us, they must also do their homework. We are doing our homework; they need to do theirs," emphasized the President of Azerbaijan.