The decision to increase the gas export of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Europe at the Romanian conference

According to the international group Tasnim news, “Samir Vali F” deputy Azerbaijan’s energy minister said at the 6th Romanian International Gas Conference held in Bucharest: “In 2022, Azerbaijan has exported 11.4 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe, and this volume is expected to exceed 12 billion cubic meters in 2023.” It is supposed to increase one billion cubic meters of supply annually from Shah Deniz field through the southern gas corridor. The selected fields that are being developed in the Caspian Sea sector belonging to Azerbaijan, including the Omid field, the Azari-Cheragh deep gas projects, as well as a large amount of natural gas from the exploited Absheron field, should be released to the market.

Voliyov noted. By the end of 2027, 1862 megawatts of wind and solar power plants are expected to be put into operation, which means the release of more than one billion cubic meters of gas.

The deputy minister also said: Azerbaijan is determined to all its strategic goals in terms of developing as a green energy country, contributing to European energy security and green transition.

He emphasized: At the same time, an international cooperation platform with coverage Four countries were established in the field of green energy in the initial phase. A project to create a “green energy” corridor connecting the Caspian Sea to Europe via wind power transmission lines as well as a Black Sea submarine cable is underway. In the initial stage, 4 gigawatts of electricity are to be exported to Europe through the Black Sea and 1 gigawatt of electricity to Turkey and Europe through Nakhchivan.

Observers believe that in the background of the war between Russia and Ukraine, The interest of a number of European Union countries in Azerbaijan’s energy resources is increasing. They believe that the suspension of gas exports from Russia to the European Union, especially as a result of the sanctions imposed against Moscow in the background of the war, has increased the demand for Azerbaijani gas. In this regard, the Oil Research Center said that Azerbaijan has signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of infrastructure in order to export more gas to Europe. He noted that these countries include Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania. , Hungary and Slovakia will be. It can be concluded that Azerbaijan’s expanded gas is not exported to southern Europe, i.e. the Balkans, but to Eastern and Central European countries.

According to official statistics, Azerbaijan produces more than 800 million tons of oil and has 2.6 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves.

The new report of the Azerbaijan Customs Committee points to the fact that natural gas revenues in Azerbaijan’s foreign trade operations are higher than oil revenues in exports. According to official statistics, in the first half of the year, Azerbaijan received 7.8 billion dollars from the sale of crude oil and 8 billion dollars from the sale of natural gas. Therefore, the share of crude oil in exports is 43.4% and The share of natural gas was 44.7%. For comparison, in the first six months of last year, the share of crude oil exports was 50.7% and the share of natural gas was 40.2%. If petroleum products are also considered, 90.13% of Azerbaijan’s total exports this year were related to the oil and gas industry.

Azerbaijan exported 10.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas to sent to foreign countries. This figure was 11.3 billion cubic meters last year. The country’s income from natural gas exports has increased from 7.4 billion dollars to 8 billion dollars compared to last year. In other words, the average export value of each thousand cubic meters of gas increased from 655 dollars to 733 dollars. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Energy of this country, Azerbaijan has exported a total of 15.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the first eight months of 2023. 48% of it – 7.6 billion cubic meters – was sold to European countries. Turkey’s share in Azerbaijan’s natural gas export is 42% and Georgia’s share is 10%.

Experts have been saying for years that the main problem of Azerbaijan’s economy is dependence on energy sources. Every year, approximately 90% of exports and 50% of the country’s budget are provided through energy revenues.

In this regard, Azerbaijan is considered one of the countries dependent on energy revenues in the world. The government of this country is also aware of this problem and although in many strategic development documents, the development of the non-oil sector has been set as the goal of increasing the country’s export income, but it has not been able to achieve this goal.

The equality of Azerbaijan’s natural gas revenues with oil revenues can relatively reduce the risks facing this country’s economy in periods when the price of oil in the world market drops sharply.

Also, it should be He opined that the export of natural gas is also related to the energy sector and the risks that exist for the oil market include this market as well. Therefore, these risks will always be relevant for the economy of Azerbaijan, unless the areas outside the energy sector develop.

It should not be forgotten that the recent sharp increase in natural gas prices related to The war between Russia and Ukraine. After the attack on Ukraine, many Western countries stopped importing from Russia while expanding the production of alternative energy.

In this regard, in the near future other traditional energy carriers They will not play an irreplaceable role in the world’s energy demand. On the other hand, Azerbaijan’s oil production has been continuously decreasing in recent years. This factor also affects the energy income of this country.

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