Demand for Azerbaijani gas growing in Europe, issues of expanding export infrastructure need to be resolved - Aliyev

BAKU. June 1 (Interfax) - Demand for Azerbaijani gas is increasing in Europe, and issues connected to expanding infrastructure to raise the volume of exports must be resolved, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

"Demand for Azerbaijani gas is growing at a fast pace. But potential buyers of gas should understand that it's not possible to significantly boost output and export in one year. Contracts are needed [for the purchase of gas], so we should speed up negotiations. We also need to increase output and expand the export infrastructure that we have," Aliyev said on Wednesday at the opening of Baku Energy Week.

Shareholders in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, a component of the Southern Gas Corridor with a capacity of 10 billion cubic meters per year, are discussing the possibility of increasing its throughput capacity in light of the high demand for Azerbaijani gas, Aliyev said. "But this will take a certain amount of time, will require substantial financial resources, close cooperation, coordination, and active dialogue with all participant countries in the project," he said.

"We're ready for this. SOCAR [State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic] and the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry have received all the necessary instructions from me to hold talks, and Baku Energy Week is a great opportunity for that," Aliyev said.

Expanding the capacities of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline part of the Southern Gas Corridor with a current capacity of 16 billion cubic meters per year can also be discussed, as there is demand for gas, which has potential for export.

Taking into account the current realities, Azerbaijan "is already holding talks with new potential buyers," Aliyev said.

"But Azerbaijan's efforts alone are not enough for this. There should be investments in infrastructure in Europe, the existence of contracts. We'll do everything in our power at the same time to speed up this process," Aliyev said.

Aliyev hopes that leading international financial institutions will support plans to expand export infrastructure.

Azerbaijan not only has plans to boost exports of gas to Europe, but also to organize electricity exports to Europe, he said.

"We should also use Azerbaijan's transit potential as much as possible, which in prior years has been underestimated by the international community," Aliyev said.