BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug.2. The European Union has made progress in buying more pipeline gas from Norway, Algeria and Azerbaijan, said Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission, Trend reports with reference to the European External Action Service.
“We have already managed to cope with an overall reduction in the share of Russian gas imports from 40 percent at the beginning of the year to around 20 percent today, principally by buying more LNG, whose share of gas usage has doubled from 19 percent to 37 percent. We have also made progress in buying more pipeline gas from Norway, Algeria and Azerbaijan. In July, I co-chaired the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council where we welcomed the recent signature of a Memorandum of understanding on a Strategic Partnership on Energy. Longer-term, we can expect more progress with this diversification drive. But the hard truth is that for this winter, we are approaching the limits of what extra gas we can buy from non-Russian sources. So, the bulk will have to come from energy savings, i.e. demand reduction,” he said.
On July 18, 2022, a "Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Partnership in the field of energy between the European Union represented by the European Commission and the Republic of Azerbaijan" was signed between Azerbaijan and the European Union.
The Sides agreed to support bilateral trade of natural gas, including through exports to the European Union, via the Southern Gas Corridor, of at least 20 billion cubic meters of gas annually by 2027, in accordance with commercial viability and market demand.
According to the document, any further exports of natural gas to the European Union beyond those that are being delivered to date will require significant investments in the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline network and the upstream project development.
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