Azerbaijan is on pace to meet its natural gas export target this year. But Baku still has a long way to go before the country can meet its ambitious export commitments for Provided Azerbaijan hits that number, it will mark the first time the country sends more than half its gas exports to Europe.
Overall, gas production during the first seven months of reached Total exports for the period rose by 5. While export growth is strong, total volume is still far below the level needed for Azerbaijan to fulfil a promise made to the European Union in July to double its Europe-bound gas exports to 20 bcm per year by the end of In other words, Baku needs to increase its export volume by over 50 percent in just over three years.
This is our target," he said during the UK conference. Production from Azerbaijan's main Caspian Shah Deniz gas field is still increasing with field operator BP drilling new production wells.
BP has also said that it hopes to start production from a new "deep gas field" beneath the ACG oil field later this year, or early in Crucially, neither BP nor Baku have confirmed whether the increased production will be enough to meet Baku's commitments, not only to the EU, but also growing domestic consumption, as well as rising demand in neighboring Turkey and Georgia.
Both Azerbaijan and Turkey have shown interest in forging a transit supply arrangement with Ashgabat to potentially plug the looming supply gap to Europe. But Turkmenistan has proven difficult to pin down. In late July, Turkish energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar visited Ashgabat to firm up a framework agreement signed with Turkmenistan in the spring providing for up to 2 bcm of gas delivered to Turkey annually for onward transit to Europe.
