Azerbaijan will increase its gas exports to Europe by 30 percent this year, as the European Union aims to reduce dependence on Russian energy.
The Minister of Energy in Azerbaijan, Parviz Shahbazov, said that in the eight months of this year, Baku has supplied Europe with 7.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
“Total gas supplies in Europe for 2022 will reach 12 billion cubic meters – a 31 percent increase compared to 2021,” Shahbazov said on Twitter.
He also showed that the production of natural gas has increased by 10 percent in the period January – August 2022, reaching 30.6 billion cubic meters.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed a few days ago to set ceiling prices for natural gas imported from Russia.
And Vladimir Putin has vowed to stop oil and gas exports to all countries that set a ceiling price.
In July, the EU and Baku signed a memorandum of understanding to double the amount of gas imported from Azerbaijan to at least 20 billion cubic meters by 2027.
The agreement also provides for the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor that crosses Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Greece.
After the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia – for the war started in Ukraine – Moscow has started to reduce gas supplies to Europe, so the European Union is preparing plans to overcome the winter.