BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 6. We are planning on at least doubling our gas exports to Europe in the coming years, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to Azerbaijani TV channels in Prague, Trend reports.
"The current geopolitical situation in the world has dramatically increased the demand for our resources. I could put it this way – it has so happened that when all our projects are ready, the demand for gas in Europe has further increased. Recently, at the opening ceremony of the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector in Bulgaria, I mentioned that we increased our gas exports by 40 percent last year compared to the previous year. This year we will increase them by a further about 30-40 percent. Of course, this requires large investments, and we are ready to go for it and are already going for it. This is why, according to the Memorandum signed with the European Union, we are planning on at least doubling our gas exports to Europe in the coming years. In other words, whereas last year the figure was 9 billion cubic meters, in 2027 it will be at least 18 billion cubic meters, perhaps even more. Now new gas fields are being put into operation and production from existing gas fields will be increased. At the same time, the use of renewable energy in Azerbaijan will free up large volumes of natural gas. Also, as a result of increasing the efficiency of the energy industry, losses will be reduced to a certain extent and we will not have so much losses. Therefore, it is somewhat difficult to imagine our possible gas export capacity today, because it could be even more. We provide a very conservative assessment of these volumes, of course. We are only voicing the figures we are sure will come true. But I am sure there will be more. Both our gas and oil, as well as electricity, will be exported to the European continent. Specific programs are now being developed to achieve this, and perhaps it is too early to talk about it. But I do hope that there will be a very serious progress in this area in the next six to seven months. Therefore, Azerbaijan will be a very important strategic energy partner for Europe – in fact, not only for Europe, but also for the rest of the world," the head of state said.