Azerbaijan has warned the EU that it will only be able to meet its commitment to double gas exports to the bloc if provided with fresh investment in its pipelines and long-term purchase contracts, as Brussels rushes to find alternatives to Russian energy.
Brussels and Baku signed an agreement in July to double supplies to 20bn cubic metres a year by 2027 — one of a string of new deals struck by the EU to replace Russian gas in response to the war in Ukraine, amid fears of winter shortages and rationing.
But expanding the 3,500km Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) from the Caspian to the Adriatic requires billions of dollars of investment and contracts for European companies to buy the gas long past 2027, said Elnur Mammadov, Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister.