Energy-rich Azerbaijan announced on Monday that this year will see a 30% increase in gas exports to Europe as the EU attempts to reduce its reliance on Russian gas in light of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.
Because of its reliance on Russian supplies, Europe has charged Moscow with using energy as a tool for geopolitical aims.
Parviz Shahbazov, the energy minister for Azerbaijan, stated on Monday that over the course of this year’s first eight months, Baku “supplied to Europe 7.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas.”
According to him on Twitter, “the overall volume of (gas) supplies to Europe in 2022 will amount to 12 billion cubic metres” — a 31% increase from 2021.
Additionally, he stated that natural gas output had increased by about 10% and had reached 30.6 billion cubic meters between January and August 2022.
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU, suggested on Wednesday that member nations agree to a price ceiling on Russian gas imports.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has threatened to sever ties with any nations that set price caps on oil and gas exports.
The EU and Baku decided in July to increase gas imports from Azerbaijan over the following few years.
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Greece make up the Southern Gas Corridor, which will be expanded “to 20 billion cubic meters per year in a few years” according to the agreement.
As part of the unprecedented sanctions imposed on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine in May, EU leaders agreed to halt the majority of Russian oil imports by the end of the year.
However, the bloc decided against outright banning Russian gas, which in 2021 totaled 155 billion cubic meters, or roughly 40% of the EU’s requirements.
The European Commission has already started creating “a gas demand reduction plan” to get through the upcoming winter because Russia has already started cutting back on its gas deliveries to stop EU nations from replenishing reserves.
