BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24. The memorandum of understanding signed in Baku between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and Slovenia's Geoplin, the largest gas supply company, is a framework document and marks the first significant step towards gas cooperation between the countries, an informed source told TurkicWorld
"This document does not specify gas volumes and is not binding for the parties. The parties agreed that if Azerbaijan has surplus gas, they will coordinate potential supplies to Slovenia as needed," the source said.
Slovenia's domestic gas needs are less than 1 billion cubic meters per year, mostly met by imports from various sources.
Geoplin supplies about 50 percent of Slovenia's retail gas market.
Slovenia maintains a network of 1,121 kilometers of main gas pipelines, facilitating gas imports from Italy, Austria, and Algeria. This network is managed by Plinovodi, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geoplin.
In May 2024, Geoplin signed an addendum to a contract with Algeria's Sonatrach to increase natural gas supply through Italy.
"Azerbaijani gas could also reach Slovenia via Italy, with a modest increase in capacity needed for the cross-border pipeline between Italy and Slovenia, a task achievable within a year," the source noted.
Slovenia anticipates that Azerbaijani gas could meet approximately 30 percent of its needs, contingent upon Azerbaijan's available gas volumes.
