Euronews: Azerbaijan - new gas supplier of European Union

Azerbaijan is a new supplier of gas to the European Union, reads an analytical article published by Euronews, Report informs.

The EU is making every effort to find new natural gas suppliers. Brussels has already held talks with the United States, Qatar, Norway, Algeria and Israel. Azerbaijan has agreed to increase the supply by 50%. Natural gas is delivered through the pipeline from Turkiye and Bulgaria.

EU countries can support each other by signing agreements on gas exchange and redistribution within the European network based on the principles of solidarity in the conditions of a gas crisis.

So far, there are only few such agreements: for example, Germany has signed agreements with Denmark and Austria. Most likely, the government of each EU country will have to supply its own domestic market with gas.

Other EU countries are less dependent on Russian gas.

Some EU countries have already freed themselves from dependence on Russian gas. For example, Italy signed gas supply agreements with Algeria, Qatar and Azerbaijan. As a result, the share of Russian gas imports in this country has already fallen to 21% of the total energy demand.

Spain and Portugal are in a better situation: they are free from dependence on gas from Russia and even supply natural gas to other EU countries. Spain is playing an increasingly important role in the European shale gas market with six LNG terminals located on the Iberian Peninsula.

France is also trying to keep up with its neighbors and has commissioned three LNG terminals. Until now, France imports most of its natural gas from Norway through the Dunkirk pipeline through the bottom of the North Sea. Denmark and Sweden are largely self-sufficient in energy.

In the first months of the Ukraine war, the export of goods from the EU to Russia decreased by 48%, but during the same period, due to the increase in the price of oil and gas, Russian exports to the EU countries increased by 68%.

Reducing the dependence of European markets on Russian gas is not only the subject of numerous sanctions packages against Russia, but also the subject of heated discussions in the sessions of the European Parliament in Brussels. Some EU countries are ready to refuse natural gas imports from Russia. But for others, it's a big import substitution issue: what alternative energy sources will they be able to use in the long run? And most importantly, in the short term, where can they get gas if not from Russia?

A more detailed analysis of gas supplies to EU countries shows that finding alternatives is not so difficult, and large gas importers are already tackling this issue.