Yerevan /Mediamax/. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said today that his country wants to expand its presence in the European energy market.

According to Trend, speaking in Baku at the ministerial meeting held within the framework of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council, Ilham Aliyev stated, in particular:

“Last time, I mentioned that we supply gas to 12 countries. At present, the number of countries where Azerbaijani gas has reached consumers has grown to 16. Azerbaijan ranks first in the world in terms of this indicator.

Last time, I mentioned our plans to expand the geography of gas supplies, and, as you can see, they have been implemented. Another important development, in my opinion, is that our gas supplies have now reached destinations outside Europe. We have started supplying gas to Syria for the first time. This was important for Syria, for the region, and for Azerbaijan, because diversifying gas supplies is very important for us, as it is for any country.

As for our plans, we want to expand our presence in the European energy market. We have already started supplying gas to two more European countries – Germany and Austria. Thus, today ten EU member states receive gas from Azerbaijan. In the coming years, taking into account the production of new volumes of gas at Azerbaijani fields, we can increase supply volumes. But for this, of course – and we discussed this previously – we need to consider expanding the existing gas transportation infrastructure, because today the Southern Gas Corridor is fully loaded. We are looking for additional expansion opportunities and interconnections so that we can supply as much as the market needs, and possibly more, given the current global situation.”

Ilham Aliyev also recalled “we recently acquired one of the largest power plants in Turkey, with a capacity of 870 megawatts.” 

“Last month, a contract was signed with Serbia to build a 500-megawatt power plant there. Thus, our contribution to energy security is not limited to our borders and the Southern Gas Corridor. Another important achievement and significant factor for us is the acquisition of two oil refineries in Italy with a total capacity of 10 million tons. If we add to this what we already have on the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea – an oil refinery with a capacity of 12 million tons – we will have a total oil refining capacity of 22 million tons in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas,” the President of Azerbaijan said.