BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.15. Azerbaijan is playing a very important role in terms of Europe’s energy supplies, Karen Donfried, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the US State Department, said in an exclusive interview with TurkicWorld.

"Azerbaijan is playing a very important role both in Ukraine directly in terms of energy supplies, but also in terms of Europe more broadly. It is so interesting because I remember last summer when we together with our European allies and partners and others were trying to think through how Europe could manage this winter given that some big countries in Europe were quite dependent on Russian oil and gas," she said.

Donfried pointed out that countries came together whether with Azerbaijan playing its role, whether with the US with LNG, whether with Norway and said "can we put more on the market to try to ensure that Europe can make it through this winter?"

"I know it was not easy, the prices for energy were very high, but I do think the reality of power coming together to meet the need at critical time made a significant difference," said the assistant secretary of state.

Azerbaijan exported 11.4 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe in 2022, up by 12.3 percent as compared to 2021. Total gas exports from Azerbaijan stood at 22.3 bcm of gas in 2022, or 18 percent more year-on-year. Gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor began on December 31, 2020. The initial capacity of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the European leg of the Corridor, is 10 billion cubic meters. Azerbaijan and the European Commission signed a memorandum in July 2022 on increasing gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Europe to 20 billion cubic meters by 2027.

Following the completion of the first binding bidding phase of the 2021 Market Test, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline triggered the first level of capacity expansion. The requests in the market test amount to 1.2 bcm for deliveries from 2026 to December 2028 and, in a second tranche, from October 2026 to September 2033. TAP consortium is signing the transport contracts for this new long-term capacity which will be available at end-2025. To the first 1.2 bcm of gas, of which 1 bcm to Italy and 200 mcm to Albania, TAP will add at least 10% of extra gas under pipeline operating conditions.

Azerbaijan’s gas exports to Europe stood at one billion cubic meters in January 2023. Total gas exports in the reporting month equaled 2.2 bcm, thus having grown by 12 percent year-on-year.