BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.14
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Recent record gas prices as well as the latest gas supply crunch is motivating Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR to develop new supplies and seek to expand operations beyond its existing portfolio, Vitaliy Baylarbayov, Deputy Vice-President of SOCAR for Investments and Marketing said, Trend reports.
He told ICIS that SOCAR is keen to offer flexibility to buyers in line with market conditions.
Speaking about gas supplies to European countries, Baylarbayov said Shah Deniz Consortium is working to increase supplies to Bulgaria. He also pointed out that volume supply increase to Bulgaria as well as to regional markets such as Albania, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia would be highly dependent on available transport infrastructure as well as market interest.
As for gas imports, Baylarbayov said Azerbaijan is involved in swaps or tolling operations with neighbouring countries, including, but not limited to Russia’s Gazprom. “In this framework, I confirm that we continue to work on introduction and/or expansion of these operations with all our gas producing neighbours, including Russia,” he said.
ICE exchange data shows that gas prices in Europe exceeded $800 per 1,000 cubic meters during trading on September 14. The price of the October futures on the TTF hub in the Netherlands reached $80.2 per 1,000 cubic meters.
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