Socar and the Greek company Depa signed a deal on Tuesday on direct gas supplies, bypassing Turkish intermediaries, during Greek President Karlos Papoulias’ visit to the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. The volume was not specified. It is unclear at this point when Azerbaijan will start direct supplies, as details of the memorandum were not disclosed.
Abdullayev said Turkish state-run pipeline company Botas has been re-exporting Azerbaijani gas to Greece since 2007.
“But this issue is currently being negotiated by Botas, Depa and Socar. In conclusion of the talks, the agreement on gas sales to Greece will be signed directly with Azerbaijan,” Abdullayev said.
Greece presently buys 0.7 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas per year.
The Socar president also said Azerbaijan is in talks with a number of other European countries and plans to sell its gas to them on its own.
Azerbaijan produces most of its gas from the giant Shahdaniz field in the Caspian Sea.
Under the second stage of Shahdaniz project, the South Caucasus republic is to sell 6bn cubic meters of gas per year to neighboring Turkey and 10bn cubic meters to European countries, Abdullayev said.
“Gas exports will increase in the future. The [newly discovered] Umid and Babek fields allow us to raise the exports.”
