BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 30. Azerbaijan plans to supply 10.2 billion cubic meters of gas to Türkiye and about 12 billion cubic meters to Europe in 2023, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said during the third meeting of the ministers of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), Trend reports via the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan.
According to the minister, it is expected to export 24.5 billion cubic meters of gas this year.
"During his speech, the minister noted that Azerbaijan's trade turnover with the member and observer countries of the Organization of Turkic States increased by 42.7 percent last year and exceeded $7.2 billion. The investments of the OTS countries in the economy of Azerbaijan amounted to $14.3 billion, whereas Azerbaijan invested $21 billion in the economies of the Organization's member countries. The importance of developing energy cooperation in terms of ensuring energy security in Eurasia was also noted," the statement said.
According to Shahbazov, since the commissioning of TANAP (Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline) and TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline), 20.9 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas have been supplied to Türkiye, while the volume of gas supplied to Europe amounted to 22 billion cubic meters.
The ministry said that the strategic energy partnership with the EU, along with the expansion of energy security projects such as the Southern Gas Corridor, and the transformation of Azerbaijan into a green energy supplier, added a new impetus to energy development.
"Moreover, cooperation reached in December in the field of development and transportation of green energy from the Caspian Sea to Europe, as well as the agreement and memorandum of understanding signed between Azerbaijan and Hungary in January this year on cooperation in the field of natural gas, will allow Hungary to receive Azerbaijani natural gas and electricity. We believe that Hungary will become a transit hub, which will allow us to expand the geography in the future," said the statement.
In addition to all this, among the important events were also noted the annual transportation of 1.5 million tons of Kazakh oil to world markets along the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan route, the launch of new projects with Uzbekistan, the signing of a document on cooperation in the energy sector with Turkmenistan in a trilateral format.
"The Turkic states were offered to participate in the process of reconstruction and transformation of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur into a green energy zone," the ministry added.
Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are members of the Organization of Turkic States, while Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are observer states.