BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 11. Azerbaijan intends to supply an additional 5 billion cubic meters of gas through the Solidarity Ring to the Balkan countries, said the Deputy Vice President of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR Vitaly Baylarbayov, addressing the Budapest LNG Summit, Trend reports.
He noted that Azerbaijan intends to increase gas exports to Europe by about 17 percent by 2026, compared to the current levels.
“We are expanding [production and export capacity] now and the results of that should be ready by 2026, when we will further increase our supplies to Italy, Greece and to Bulgaria,” said SOCAR’s vice president, adding that the country plans to export about 14 billion cubic meters of gas to southeastern European countries in two years, up from 12 billion cubic meters last year.
The growth will be driven by increased production and expansion of the capacity of the three pipelines that make up the Southern Gas Corridor, he explained.
Azerbaijan initiated gas transportation to Europe through the Southern Gas Corridor on December 31, 2020. The Southern Gas Corridor transports gas from the Caspian Sea region to European countries via Georgia and Türkiye, with a project cost of 33 billion US dollars. It is expected that the capital costs for the Southern Gas Corridor will be fully recouped within 8–10 years.
In July 2022, Azerbaijan and the EU reached an agreement to double the volume of gas supplies via the Southern Gas Corridor from the current 10 billion cubic meters to 20 billion cubic meters by 2027.
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