Hungary in talks with Romania to buy gas from Azerbaijan

Hungary and Romania are in talks to purchase Azerbaijani gas, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday.

Report informs, citing Reuters, that, according to Szijjarto, the two countries are discussing an increase in the capacity of a natural gas pipeline interconnector that straddles their borders to more than 3 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year,

Szijjarto said the planned expansion of import capacity via Romania would enhance security of supply and offer a route for possible future imports from Greece, Turkiye or Azerbaijan.

This means using the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector (IGB), the construction of which was officially announced last Friday at a ceremony attended by the Prime Ministers of both countries and the Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan.

Szijjarto said the interconnector can carry 2.6 bln bcm of gas per year to Romania and 1.7 bcm per year to Hungary, which would initially increase to 2.5 bcm and later to more than 3 bcm. He did not elaborate on the timeframe for the project.