BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 28. Azerbaijan’s gas exports to Europe are needed and for sure increasingly strategically of importance, Cyril Widdershoven, a Middle East geopolitical specialist and energy analyst, a partner at Dutch risk consultancy VEROCY, and Global Head Strategy Risk at Berry Commodities told Trend.
He noted that the potential 10.5 bcm to be delivered this year will be welcomed by European partners.
“At the same time the Azerbaijani strategy to increase natural gas supplies this year and pump 16.2 billion cubic metres (bcm) via the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), is needed. Every option to have the dependency on Russia being minimized is necessary. Still, there needs more to be done, as EU is looking at taking out around 100BCM of Russian gas the coming years. A potential further increase of Azerbaijan’s capacity to Europe should be not only assessed but right away put in place,” said the expert.
Widdershoven pointed out that until now Azerbaijani supplies have been very safe and reliable.
“The main question that is currently on the mind of strategists in EU will be what will be the impact of Russia’s overall invasion of the Ukraine. In case of a potential increase of EU sanctions on Russia, or Maybe even energy sanctions, will Russia not try to block or constraint other supply routes to Europe too,” he added.
Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor began on December 31, 2020. The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the European leg of the Corridor, has recently reached the milestone of 10 billion cubic meters, which is the pipeline's full capacity. TAP's may be expanded to transport 20 billion cubic meters of gas per year, a decision that can be made after market tests.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn