Bryza: Swap agreement may allow Azerbaijan to increase gas supplies to Europe

If there is more gas available for Azerbaijan from Turkmenistan, then Azerbaijan could increase the delivery to Europe and help these countries not only in short term needs but also in longer-term goals: of building the natural gas distribution businesses throughout Europe, in the Balkans and beyond, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, international expert Matthew Bryza told Report.

“The recent gas swap deal of 2 billion cubic meters between Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran is a very significant development. There’s a great demand throughout the world for natural gas in the short run because of all the disruptions caused by the pandemic,” he said, adding that even after crisis there’re strong economic and strategic reasons for Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to cooperate in this way.

Bryza also noted the possibilities that Zangazur corridor gives to that agreement: “If we can get the gas moving from Turkmenistan into Iran and from there to Azerbaijan then it’s possible for gas to move eventually through the Zangazur corridor and it would be then possible to build industrial zones along that road that could make use of the natural gas for example for petrochemicals production.”

Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan signed an agreement on swap gas supplies for up to 2 billion cubic meters per year.

According to the agreement, from 1.5 to 2 billion cubic meters of gas will be supplied annually from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan through Iran.

The implementation of the open-ended contract will begin on December 22 this year.