Baku, Belgrade poised to sign agreement to increase Azerbaijani gas supplies to Serbia - Serbian Energy Ministry

BAKU. Sept 16 (Interfax) - Baku and Belgrade are poised to sign an agreement to increase Azerbaijani gas supplies to Serbia in the near future, the press service of the Serbian Mining and Energy Ministry said.

Serbian Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic and Srbijagas President Dusan Bajatovic discussed the Banatski Dvor gas storage facility's expansion and preparations for the winter heating season at a meeting.

"In November, we will have 750 million cubic meters of gas in the Banatski Dvor facility and 163 million cubic meters in Hungary's gas storage," Djedovic Handanovic said. "We have also agreed on additional volumes from Azerbaijan, which will be formalized in the near future based on our needs," she said.

Djedovic Handanovic also said that the Banatski Dvor underground gas storage facility's active volume would be 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas by the end of 2026. "This will make a decisive contribution to energy security and stability for the next 25 years," she said.

Bajatovic said the Banatski Dvor expansion project was on schedule, the equipment had been ordered, and a construction permit obtained.

Banatski Dvor, Serbia's only underground gas storage facility, was built at a depleted gas field and went into service in 2011.

Azerbaijan plans to increase gas supplies to Serbia gradually to 1 billion cubic meters per year, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said at a press conference with his Serbian counterpart Marko Djuric in Baku at the beginning of September.

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) and Srbijagas signed an agreement on November 15, 2023 to supply of up to 400 mcm to Serbia in 2024 with the possibility of increasing these volumes each year starting in 2027.