In search of natural gas amid energy crisis, European commissioner to visit Azerbaijan

Baku, June 23- Neftegaz.RU. European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson will visit Azerbaijan in July, Azernews reports.
Simson made the announcement during the Forum on «Building a balanced and resilient energy sector in the three seas region» in Riga.

Noting that the EU Energy Platform is one of the key drivers of the EU efforts to diversity, she stated that this platform will aggregate EU gas demand and allow Europe to better and more efficiently use gas infrastructure.
She said:

• In terms of outreach to international partners, we are quite advanced with the United States, as well as Norway
• Last week I traveled to Cairo where we signed an MoU with Egypt and Israel
• I will also visit Azerbaijan in July
• At the same time, we have intense contacts with Canada, Qatar, Algeria, and others

EU and Azerbaijan are in active dialogue on increasing gas supplies amid the energy crisis.
A joint statement on energy cooperation with the EU was signed more than 10 years ago.

The EU-Azerbaijan energy cooperation had reached a new level and is still ongoing within the framework of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC).
The EU places a high value on energy supply diversification, and the SGC is particularly important in this regard.

To recall, with the completion of the TAP construction on December 31, 2020, Azerbaijan began commercial gas supplies to Europe via the SGC.

The SGC is an initiative of the European Commission for a gas supply route from the Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Europe.
The route from Azerbaijan to Europe consists of the South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and TAP.

Last year, TAP transported 8.1 billion m³ of gas to Europe.
By late 2022, Azerbaijan plans to increase gas supplies to Europe to 9.1 billion m³, and in 2023, the volume of gas supplies is expected to reach 11 billion m³.