Gazprom to Increase Azerbaijani Gas Purchases

Russian giant Gazprom has announced that it will increase its gas purchases from Azerbaijan, over and above its contractual purchase agreements. 

During a meeting between president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) Rovnag Abdullayev and chairman of Gazprom's management committee, Alexey Miller, it was decided that Gazprom would increase its Azerbaijani gas imports to three billion cubic metres next year.

Gazprom also said it has increased gas import by 70 per cent on last year's levels, up to 1.6 billion cubic metres.

Azerbaijan Repuplic currently holds an estimated 1.5 trillion cubic metres of explored natural gas reserves, with an extra 1.2 trillion cubic metres of possible gas reserves still to be explored, including the offshore Shah Deniz field.

Mr. Abdullayev and Mr. Miller also agreed at the meeting that Azerbaijan and Russia would increase cooperation on energy. A statement from Gazprom said that "smart partnership between the companies was important for strategic cooperation strengthening between the two countries."

Azerbaijan has been supplying gas to Russia since January 1, 2010, supply a total of 0.8 billion cubic metres that year.