According to the document, Azerbaijan will double natural gas exports to the EU countries via the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), bring the total volume up to 20 billion cubic meters annually.
Reuters was able to obtain the text of the draft memorandum. It says that needs approval from the governments of the EU countries involved and could still change. The British news agency stresses that the document is part of the EU’s efforts to reduce reliance on Russian gas.
As previously reported, the document is expected to be signed during Kadri Simson’s visit to Baku. Stefano Grassi, Head of the Office of the European Commissioner for Energy, said in this regard that the upcoming deal with Baku would be one of the steps planned by Brussels to overcome the gas crisis.
Reuters also cites an excerpt from a memorandum to be signed between the European Union and Azerbaijan: “The Sides aspire to support bilateral trade of natural gas, including through exports to the European Union, via the Southern Gas Corridor, of at least 20 bcm of gas annually by 2027, in accordance with commercial viability and market demand.”
As we know, the Trans-Adriatic pipeline, the final leg of the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline network, last year brought more than 8 bcm of Azerbaijani gas into European countries such as Italy. But from next year, thanks to the capacity of the ICGB, the interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, which started operating on July 1, this amount should go up to 10 bcm.
The draft memorandum says that “both sides will encourage financing the expansion of that network to increase deliveries to Europe, adding that such investments should be able to carry low-carbon gases in future to avoid locking in years of planet-warming emissions”.
An increase in deliveries will also require Azerbaijan to expand domestic gas production.
The draft memorandum highlights the importance of “long-term, predictable and stable contracts” to provide security to gas producers. At the same time, it points out that future gas contracts will need to align with the EU’s climate change targets, which according to Brussels will require gas use to plummet, particularly after 2030: “Both sides should increase action to curb emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, in their supply chains.”
The draft agreement says that the EU and Azerbaijan will also examine the development of electricity interconnections, to promote renewable energy, and discuss future hydrogen trade.
