Azernews.Az

Qabil Ashirov

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Azerbaijan will continue increasing its natural gas production in the coming decades and remain a dependable energy supplier for partner countries, SOCAR President Rovshan Najaf said during the Baku Energy Forum, AzerNEWS reports.

Speaking at the session titled “Leaders’ Perspectives on Energy Transformation and Future Strategies,” Najaf underscored Azerbaijan’s commitment to ensuring reliable energy supplies while enhancing regional energy security.

“Our primary priority is to provide customers across the region with sustainable and reliable energy supplies while contributing to regional energy security,” he said. “This principle has always been at the heart of our operations and will remain unchanged in the future.”

According to Najaf, Azerbaijan is focused on expanding its contribution to regional energy security by increasing gas supplies and diversifying export destinations. While Europe, Georgia, and Türkiye have long been among the country’s key gas markets, Syria has recently joined the list.

“This means that Azerbaijan has now begun supplying natural gas to the Syrian market as well,” he noted.

The SOCAR president emphasized that demand for additional gas volumes from international partners continues to grow. However, he stressed that maintaining the sustainability and reliability of supplies is just as important as increasing export volumes.

“In the current environment, Azerbaijani gas is regarded as one of the most reliable energy sources in the region,” Najaf said. “Our task, together with our partners, is to ensure that production plans advance in line with established development programs. This will enable us to deliver greater volumes of gas to regional markets.”

A key priority under discussion with partner countries, he added, is the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor, a strategic energy route linking Azerbaijan’s gas reserves to European consumers.

Najaf noted that the challenges surrounding the project remain largely unchanged from those discussed over the past five years. While Azerbaijan is prepared to increase gas deliveries and expand infrastructure capacity, the success of these plans depends on long-term commitments from European partners.

“We are ready to supply more gas and expand infrastructure. However, this requires long-term gas purchase commitments from our European partners as well as support for financing expansion projects,” he said.

Looking ahead, the SOCAR chief highlighted significant investment opportunities in Azerbaijan’s upstream sector. He pointed to the recent commencement of associated gas production from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field, as well as a number of promising future developments.

“In addition to ACG, we have prospective projects such as the Babek field, the development of new offshore deposits, and several other initiatives,” Najaf said. “These projects will allow us to meet domestic demand while bringing additional gas volumes to export markets.”

The planned investments and infrastructure expansion are expected to strengthen Azerbaijan’s position as a key energy supplier to Europe and neighboring countries, while reinforcing its growing role in regional and international energy security.