BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 7. At the end of 2023, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan failed to achieve an agreement on the terms of swapping gas shipments through Iran in 2024, a government source told Trend.
Swap gas supplies have been temporarily halted pending the outcome of the negotiations.
The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), which was transporting gas from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan, confirmed the facts.
Azerbaijan has been getting gas from Turkmenistan since January 2022, thanks to a trilateral swap deal agreed on November 28, 2021 in Turkmenistan's Ashgabat by the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Iran.
This arrangement called for Turkmen gas deliveries to Azerbaijan via Iran of up to 1.5-2.0 billion cubic meters per year, with a possible increase to 3 billion cubic meters per year.
"Azerbaijan has outlined the purchase of up to 3 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan in 2024, but commercial terms and exact daily volumes have not yet been agreed. Negotiations will continue after the New Year holidays," the source said.
The contract volume for 2023 was agreed at the level of up to 2.6 billion cubic meters of gas against about 900 million cubic meters (0.9 billion cubic meters) of gas at the end of 2022 (amounting to almost 111 million).
Azerbaijan received 7 million cubic meters of Turkmen gas per day via Iran during January and February 2023; the agreed volume was 8 million cubic meters of gas per day during the period from March through October 2023, 5 million cubic meters per day in November, and 4 million cubic meters per day in December 2023.