The Ambassador noted, that in 2020 Hungary managed to complete its biggest ever investment of nearly $1.5 billion in Azerbaijan.
V.Szederkényi said:
- The Hungarian MOL Group became the 3rd - largest stakeholder in the ACG oil field and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
- Besides our investment in the oil industry, Hungary is interested in including Azerbaijani natural gas in our future energy mix
- This was reiterated by Minister Szijjártó at the 7th ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council on February 11
- We welcome the successful completion of the Southern Gas Corridor which has a positive effect on Europe's energy security
MOL regards Azerbaijan as key to beefing up its role as a regional player.
In 2020, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister, said Hungary could start importing natural gas from Azerbaijan from 2023 on.
Hungary is hoping to buy 1-2 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan each year.
Gas consumption in Hungary amounts to 10 bcm according to data from the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority.
For now, the country is fairly well connected to its neighbours in almost every direction, which increased transited gas volumes in recent years.
When it comes to gas routes’ and sources’ diversification, Hungary considers several ongoing projects, apart from the mentioned TAP and Turkish Stream, Romanian offshore gas and the LNG through the Croatian Krk terminal are also on the table.
The future directions of Hungary’s gas import mix will play a crucial role in the energy security of the wider Central and South-Eastern European region.
