Azerbaijan strengthening position in Europe’s gas market - analysis

By Trend

Azerbaijan plays an important role in ensuring Europe’s energy security. Along with oil, Azerbaijan is already exporting gas to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor. The country's positions in the European gas market are being strengthened.

“Azerbaijan has become an important player in ensuring Europe’s energy security as a result of the balanced policy which is pursued by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev,” Azerbaijani MP Javid Osmanov told Trend.

The MP said that Azerbaijan's natural gas plays an important role in ensuring the energy security of the European countries thanks to the energy policy which is pursued by the president.

“Such projects as Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) must be emphasized,” Osmanov said. “Azerbaijan is the most profitable and reliable partner in ensuring Europe’s energy security as a result of the policy of the president.”

Osmanov added that there is no doubt that the supply of Azerbaijani gas to Europe will grow.

“High-ranking EU officials have also repeatedly expressed gratification with cooperation with Azerbaijan,” the MP said. “A meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council was held in Baku on February 4, 2022.”

The MP added that the participation of European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and other high-ranking officials, as well as the high level of representation of the member-states of the Advisory Council, President Ilham Aliyev’s statement made at the meeting testify to the existence of new prospects between Azerbaijan and the EU.

Another Azerbaijani MP Elshan Musayev also commented on this topic.

“Azerbaijan's role in ensuring Europe's energy security is extremely important and it is growing especially at the current stage of the global international political system,” Musayev told Trend .

“Presently, this process is carried out through TANAP and TAP gas pipelines, which have already been implemented as part of the Southern Gas Corridor project,” the MP said. “This is a unique global industrial project that provides Azerbaijan with the opportunity to independently export its gas to the European markets.”

Musayev added that Turkey and Georgia, as well as Italy, Greece and Bulgaria rapidly became consumers of Azerbaijani gas.

“The consumers from Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia will also be able to use Azerbaijani gas through the Ionian-Adriatic pipeline in the future, which will become the northern branch of TAP,” Musayev said. “A corresponding infrastructure is being already created in this sphere.”

The MP said that moreover, while speaking at the eighth ministerial meeting within the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor in Baku on February 4, the Azerbaijani president expressed confidence that Azerbaijan will have even more proven gas reserves.

“Proceeding from experience in the development of oil and gas fields, their reserves are bigger than expected,” Musayev said. “From this point of view, there is no doubt about the stability of the growth dynamics of Azerbaijan's gas export. All this shows that Azerbaijan is ready for new realities in the field of production, consumption, sale and processing of natural gas.”

Musayev added that the Azerbaijani government prefers a flexible strategy in this sphere, which creates the basis for minimizing possible losses in rapidly changing processes and maximizing of profit.