SOCAR is confident of demand for any volumes of Azerbaijani gas

European Union countries are 'scared' that SOCAR is planning to export increasing volumes of oil and gas to Azerbaijan's Eastern neighbours at their prices, SOCAR investment and marketing vice-president Elshad Nasirov said.

"Our priority is the European Union, but we need investment and we need participation from other countries," Nasirov said at the first international Azerbaijani investment conference in London today.

SOCAR is planning a major series of new projects, including a petrochemical complex and compression facility on Azerbaijan's border with Russia, increased exports to Iran, Turkey, Greece and other countries.

"We are in negotiation over a pipeline that will transport gas to the EU through Turkey and Bulgaria.  We already have a memorandum of understanding," Nasirov said.

"Decisions will be made purely on a commercial basis, they will not depend on political issues," he said.

"We cannot compete with Russia.  It is and will be for many years the biggest gas supplier.  But any buyer and seller needs the market to be as diverse as possible. So it is natural for Europe to seek alternative supplies. Whatever volume we can produce, we can be sure that it will find a buyer," Nasirov said.

"We will begin to export gas to Europe from our new fields in 2016, including deep layers of the Chirag field," Nasirov said.

/Trend Capital/