Azerbaijan is ready for negotiations with the European Commission on increasing gas supplies - Shahbazov

Baku/04.02.22/Turan: The Advisory Council for the Southern Gas Corridor has successfully completed its mission to supply natural gas to Europe. SCG is a unique element of stable energy supply, stated by the Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov at the plenary session of the Eighth Ministerial Meeting of the Consultative Council of the Southern Gas Corridor .

According to him, in 2021, more than 18.5 billion cubic meters of gas was exported via the SCG to consumers in Georgia, Turkey and Europe. During this period, about 8.9 billion gas was supplied to European countries under long-term and short-term contracts alone, he added.

The SCG can expand its strategic importance in ensuring energy security through interconnectors between European countries. "We are ready to cooperate with the European Commission and countries wishing to purchase additional volumes of gas or import and export gas," Shahbazov said.

EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, in turn, noted that "ensuring energy security will remain a priority." “Therefore, strategic partnership with Azerbaijan is of great importance. I thank Azerbaijan for its active role in ensuring energy security,” Varheli said.

Amos Hochstein, US State Department's Chief Energy Security Adviser, praised Azerbaijan's contribution to the diversification of Europe's energy supply through the SCG. “This project is important not only for reliable gas supply to Europe, but also for the development of the gas market. We are happy to support this project,” Hochstein said.

Deputy Chairman of the Turkmengaz State Concern of Turkmenistan, Atamyrat Charyev, said that Ashgabat has the technical capabilities and resource base to export natural gas to the West to meet the needs of the Eastern European market. “We are convinced that this is important for the contribution to the energy security of European countries,” Charyev said.

Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovic said that on February 1, the construction of a “Bulgarian-Serbian gas interconnector began, which will be put into operation in 2023 and will provide this republic with supplies from the Caspian region.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Siarto said that Azerbaijani gas is the most realistic for diversifying energy supplies to Central Europe.—06B-