(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 14. The European
Commission has proposed to EU countries a deal with Azerbaijan to
increase imports of natural gas and support the expansion of a
pipeline to do this, Trend reports.
According to a draft document seen by Reuters, 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 billion cubic metres of gas annually by 2027, in
accordance with commercial viability and market demand.
The draft says 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.
The draft highlighted the importance of 'long-term, predictable
and stable contracts' to provide security to gas producers. But it
also said future gas contracts would 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, including through
incentives to collect gas that would otherwise leach into the
atmosphere, it said.
The draft agreement said the EU and Azerbaijan would also
examine the development of electricity interconnections, to promote
renewable energy, and discuss future hydrogen trade.
EU and Azerbaijan are in active dialogue on increasing gas
supplies amid the energy crisis. Senior European Commission
officials and Azerbaijan government representatives met May 13 to
discuss energy issues in line with the EU-Azerbaijan Energy
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). In a context of heightened
global energy challenges, stable bilateral energy relations and
cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan are a key factor
contributing to competitive, diversified and secure gas
supplies.
Azerbaijan's gas exports to Europe began on December 31, 2020
with the commissioning of the Southern Gas Corridor comprising of
the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion, the Trans Anatolian Natural
Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
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