BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.2. Romgaz and SOCAR intend to improve the mechanisms for the delivery of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Romania, said Romania’s Minister of Energy Virgil Daniel-Popescu in an exclusive interview with Trend.
He recalled that on 19th October 2022, Romanian natural gas producer Romgaz signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Azerbaijan's national oil company SOCAR to explore the opportunity of jointly developing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Black Sea.
“The project would include a natural gas liquefaction terminal and a regasification terminal, as well as other facilities and installations needed to transport gas from the Caspian Sea basin to Romania. Also in December 2022, Romgaz and SOCAR TRADING, a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, signed the first individual contract for the delivery of gas from Azerbaijan to Romania. The individual contract allows for scheduled gas deliveries from 1 January 2023 through the Southern Corridor using the transmission capacities of the TAP and IGB pipelines and the transmission systems in Bulgaria and Romania. The contract is based on the Memorandum of Understanding recently concluded between the two companies, with an unlimited term. The signing of this contract ensures the possibility to acquire volumes of natural gas from Azerbaijan to meet potential consumption needs with imported gas. The contract thus serves the strategic objectives of security of supply and diversification of gas sources,” said the minister.
Virgil Daniel-Popescu went on to add that the Memorandum of Understanding for natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan as well as this first individual contract are the result of an excellent cooperation between Romgaz and SOCAR, initiated earlier in 2022 and formalized by the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding.
“The parties intend to continue their cooperation and to improve the mechanisms for the delivery of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Romania,” the minister said.