Negotiations are underway to supply Azerbaijani gas to Slovenia and Slovakia – Ilham Aliyev

Azerbaijan and the European Union have established a strategic partnership in the energy sector, and it provides for doubling Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe by the end of 2027. This was stated by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on July 18 in his speech at the round table on "Energy and Communications" held within the framework of the 4th Summit of the European Political Community in Oxford.

"If in 2021 Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe amounted to 8 billion cubic meters, this year this volume will amount to approximately 13 billion cubic meters. Total volume of exports in 2021 amounted to 18 billion cubic meters, and this year it will already amount to 25 billion cubic meters, and more than half of this volume will go to Europe," the head of state noted. As Aliyev stressed, 8 countries buy Azerbaijani gas, and 5 of them are Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Hungary and Romania – EU members. Two more states, Georgia and Serbia, are candidates for EU membership.

In addition, Azerbaijan supplies gas to Turkey. Aliyev reported on "important event" in the field of gas cooperation between Azerbaijan and Slovenia that took place yesterday. "We hope that in the next few months we will also enter the Slovenian market. Now, as inter-connector projects are implemented in Europe, additional opportunities will appear for the supply of Azerbaijani gas to even more European countries," Aliyev continued.

Azerbaijan has the resources and infrastructure for this, he said.  "We must accelerate negotiations with our new partners, Slovenia and Slovakia, as well as increase supplies to existing markets. Because if our supplies to Italy amount to 9 billion cubic meters of gas, then it needs 20 billion cubic meters from us. This is one of the examples of the demand for Azerbaijani gas," Aliyev said.

To his thinking, Azerbaijan has established itself as a reliable supplier of energy resources. Azerbaijan, together with its partners, built and commissioned the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which for the first time in history connected the Caspian and the Mediterranean Seas. According to him, Azerbaijan currently supplies oil from the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey to various regions, including "very sensitive destinations that are heavily dependent on Azerbaijani oil." "In some countries, the consumption of Azerbaijani oil accounts for fifty percent or more of their demand," Aliyev stressed.