BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.29
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran signed a deal on November 28 to swap around 1.5-2 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Gas swap from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan via Iran will start on December 22, providing 5 Iranian provinces with gas.
Professor of the Azerbaijan State Economic University (UNEC) Elshad Mammadov told Trend that this agreement is of utmost importance, since it is essential to prioritize neighboring countries in energy cooperation.
“We have similar agreements with Russia. Given the uneven distribution of energy resources, first of all, it is necessary to cooperate with neighboring countries on energy supplies. Even energy-rich countries face the problem of uneven distribution. Iran has huge gas reserves, however, it northern regions bordering with Azerbaijan suffer from energy deficit. In this context, gas supplies from Azerbaijan have great prospects. I believe that Iranian regions bordering with Azerbaijan better to get gas from Azerbaijan rather than from Iran’s southern regions. At the same time, it is more beneficial to supply gas to Nakhchivan from Iran rather than from Baku. That’s to say, it is necessary to ensure uninterrupted energy supplies for the domestic industry and consumers,” he said.
Mammadov believes that this agreement is important for Turkmenistan as well.
“In some cases, Turkmenistan fails to find buyers for its huge gas resources due to logistical problems. In this regard, given the surge in natural gas consumption in Azerbaijan, we can meet the domestic demand with gas from Turkmenistan,” he explained.
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