BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. Last week, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov and SOCAR chief Rovshan Najaf visited Iraq and reviewed potential chances for collaboration in "green" energy and energy projects, Trend reports.
The Azerbaijani side told their Iraqi counterparts about
Azerbaijan's ambitions for the transition to green energy, SOCAR
projects with foreign partners, and potential for energy
cooperation. It should be mentioned that SOCAR acquires a portion
of Iraqi oil grade "Basra" for export to third countries.
Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee (SCC) has revealed that
India's oil purchases from Azerbaijan have climbed about 1.8 times.
According to the SCC, if India buys 322,662 tons of declared
Azerbaijani oil for 202 million dollars in January–February 2023,
it will receive 574,400 tons for $360 million in January–February
2024.
Azerbaijan sold about 82,610 tons of crude oil and oil products
to Germany between January and February 2024, accounting for 1.79
percent of Azerbaijan's total raw material exports. According to
the SCC, Azerbaijan's crude oil and oil product exports to Germany
totaled $52.283 million over the aforementioned period.
From January through February 2024, Azerbaijan shipped about
170,138 tons of crude oil and oil products to Portugal, accounting
for 3.7 percent of its total raw material exports. According to the
SCC, this indicator rose by 83.04 percent, or 77,185 tons, year
over year. The export of Azerbaijani oil and oil products to
Portugal generated $104.1 million.
One of the traditional and main buyers of Azerbaijani oil is Israel, which imported over 884,322 tons of crude oil and oil products from January through February 2024 (19.24 percent of Azerbaijan's total exports of raw materials). On a year-on-year basis, this indicator increased by 67.18 percent, or 355,350 tons. Revenue amounted to $527.533 million.
Türkiye reduced its purchase of Azerbaijani oil by more than 3.7 times, purchasing 68,079 tons disclosed by the SCC for $36 million (in January–February 2023, the number was 253,529 tons for about $152 million). The Russian Federation is currently Türkiye's principal oil supplier, selling oil at a discount.
The statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat, this week named the countries leading in the purchase of Azerbaijani oil in January 2024. According to the information, out of one million tons of Azerbaijani oil purchased in January by EU countries, Italy accounted for 579,500 tons (worth 338,1 million euros), the Czech Republic 207,700 tons (up 2 percent to January 2023) worth 120,6 million euros, and Portugal 138,300 tons (up 9.7 percent) worth 82,7 million euros. Overall, Azerbaijan's revenue from oil sales to the eurozone in January 2024 amounted to almost 596 million euros, according to Eurostat.
According to SCC data, the Czech Republic cut its purchases of
Azerbaijan's fuel from January to February 2024. According to the
SCC, the Czech Republic purchased approximately 141,342 tons of
crude oil and petroleum products in two months (3.07 percent of
Azerbaijan's total raw material exports), with an annualized
reduction of 45.18 percent.
In general, the export of crude oil declared by the State Customs
Committee of Azerbaijan (nomenclature code 2709) from January to
February 2024 declined by 11.2 percent compared to January–February
2023, totaling 4.595 million tons. Azerbaijan's revenue from the
sale of these amounts of oil was $2.826 billion, 13.1 percent less
than the revenue from January to February 2023. Between January and
February 2024, oil accounted for 59.12 percent of Azerbaijan's
exports.
To note, the Norwegian company Equinor worked in the oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan, which decided to leave this sector in the country at the end of 2023 but remains interested in the "green economy." The company's annual report notes that revenues in the upstream segment in Azerbaijan fell to $351 million in 2023 (down almost 7.9 percent by 2022). The company's investments in Azerbaijan last year amounted to $120 million, compared to $124 million in 2022 (down 3.2 percent).
Production volume in 2023 amounted to 10 million barrels of oil equivalent, compared to 11 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2022.
Meanwhile, SOCAR acquired Equinor's stakes in the
Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, Karabakh fields, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) project in December 2023. Before that, Equinor owned 7.27
percent in ACG, 8.71 percent in BTC, and 50 percent in the Karabakh
field. Previously, SOCAR held a 25 percent stake in ACG, a 25
percent stake in BTC, and a 50 percent stake in the Karabakh
field.
The transactions will be finalized in mid-2024, subject to
compliance with all regulatory requirements and contractual
obligations.
It became known this week that Tagiyev Operating Company LLC, established by private Azerbaijani company GL Ltd, has completed drilling of six new wells at Buzovna-Mashtaga, Gala, and Zira oil fields onshore Azerbaijan by March 2024 within the framework of the minimum mandatory work program. GL Ltd., based on the risk-service contract signed with SOCAR on December 14, 2021, has been working on these fields since July 1, 2022, and within a year and a half has managed to reduce the rate of oil production decline and even increase daily oil production by more than 10 percent in 2023.
Salyan Oil Operating Company (established by private Azerbaijani company GL Ltd) plans to hold a tender in 2024 to drill two new wells over 4,000 meters deep in Azerbaijan's Kursangi and Garabaghli fields.
Turkish media, quoting SOCAR Türkiye Enerji (SOCAR's subsidiary STEAS) CEO Elcin Ibadov, reported this week that SOCAR is planning to implement new investment projects in Türkiye's petrochemical sector, one of the important components of the country's energy sector. Work is underway on a master plan in which investment alternatives are being evaluated.
Additionally, it became known that SOCAR Türkiye Enerji AS has invested $1.7 billion over 15 years in the development of the Turkish petrochemical Petkim Petrokimya Holding. STEAS CEO Elcin Ibadov told Turkish media that Petkim was privatized in 2008 (SOCAR bought 51 percent of shares for $2.04 billion), and in addition to the funds for the share buyback, another $1.7 billion has been invested in the holding so far.
The West attaches great importance to energy cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Azerbaijan. According to an article published on the NATO Association website by Robert Cutler, a specialist in energy security and geo-economics and a researcher at the Canadian Energy Research Institute and the Canadian Institute of Global Affairs, "The Southern Gas Corridor is the most important pipeline project providing transportation of gas from the Caspian Sea region to Europe and has become a vital mechanism for reducing Europe's dependence on Russian gas." The expert also noted that the March 1 meeting in Baku on SCC and green energy emphasized Azerbaijan's key role in increasing Europe's energy security through diversification of gas supplies and also confirmed the huge potential of wind energy.
The European Union's statistics office this week noted that Norway and Azerbaijan have the fastest rate of increase in pipeline gas exports to Europe, and both countries are among the top 5 in pipeline deliveries of blue fuel in January 2024 to the eurozone. According to Eurostat's information, Norway supplied 95,800 terajoules to the EU in January (13 percent more than January 2023), while Azerbaijan supplied 43,000 TJ (up 9.4 percent against January 2023).
In its turn, the State Customs Committee (SCC) of Azerbaijan reported this week that Azerbaijan exported 3.954 bcm of gas from January through February 2024, 3.3 times more than from January through February 2023. According to the SCC, revenue from the sale of this gas amounted to $1.46 billion, 2.9 times the revenue from the export of declared gas volumes from January through February 2023. Gas deliveries in the two months of 2024 accounted for 30.54 percent of Azerbaijan's total exports (11.11 percent from January through February 2023).
According to Gas Infrastructure Europe, the average level of filling of underground gas storage facilities (UGS) in Europe by March 21, 2024, was 59.39 percent, which is a high indicator. At the same time, active gas withdrawal was recorded in Bulgaria (the Chiren gas storage facility was 48.79 percent full by March 21) and Poland (the total filled capacity of gas storage facilities there was 47.38 percent). Bulgaria covers about 40 percent of its gas needs with Azeri pipeline gas.
Gas from Azerbaijan to Europe flows through the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP). The TANAP consortium said this week that the total pumping volume (for Türkiye's needs and for the EU) reached 60 bcm between June 30, 2018, and March 2024. The announcement stated that TANAP continues to make a vital contribution to the strategic security of energy supply for Türkiye and Europe.
In a conversation with European media, ICGB Executive Director Teodora Georgieva (the operating company of the IGB gas pipeline, an interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria linked to TAP by the European segment of the SGC) shared her opinion regarding the European Commission's (EC) withdrawal of support for gas pipeline expansion projects. Georgieva believes that the EC should support not only pipelines for the transportation of hydrogen as a clean fuel but also new or expanding gas pipelines, as gas is an important fuel for the period of "energy transition" to clean fuel. It should be noted that Azerbaijan also hopes for EC support in the expansion of the SGC.
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is the European part of the Southern Gas Corridor, delivering eight bcm of gas annually to Italy and one bcm each to Greece and Bulgaria. The TAP consortium said this week that water consumption along TAP, in line with its commitment to a sustainable energy future, has been reduced in Greece, Albania, Italy, and Switzerland by a combined 41 percent in 2023 compared to 2022.
The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Ceyhun Bayramov, addressed the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels this week, upon the invitation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Foreign Ministry reported that the sides agreed to explore the possibility of using nuclear technology to detect mines.
The Foreign Minister also noted that the IAEA's Atoms4Climate Initiative deserves praise and full support. The Minister added that Azerbaijan, as a COP29 host country, is determined to lead efforts to achieve tangible results. Bayramov stated that Azerbaijan and the IAEA are finalizing a framework document for the next five years, which contains provisions for a joint study with the IAEA on the feasibility of nuclear energy in the context of Azerbaijan's efforts to transition to clean energy."
Azerbaijan's Energy Ministry this week reported that Azerbaijan exported 221.6 million kWh of electricity from January through February 2024, compared to 840.1 million kWh in the same period in 2023. According to the Ministry of Energy, Azerbaijan imported 32.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in January–February 2024 (21 million kilowatt-hours from January through February 2023), of which 13.5 million kWh were imported in February 2024.
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