Azerbaijan is selling more natural gas to Europe. In 2023, the country increased its gas sales to Europe by 8.6%. This means they sold almost 1 billion cubic meters more gas. European countries want to buy gas from Azerbaijan instead of Russia.
Azerbaijan plans to produce more gas in the future. The state energy company SOCAR wants to increase yearly gas production from 37 billion cubic meters to 49 billion cubic meters by 2033. This is a big increase. However, it's still not enough to be a main supplier for Europe.
To meet Europe's needs, Azerbaijan is buying gas from Russia. They have a deal to buy at least 1 billion cubic meters of gas from Gazprom, a Russian company. Azerbaijan is also talking about buying more Russian gas to send to Central Europe through Ukraine.
Azerbaijan is buying more oil from Russia too. In 2024, they bought about $40 million worth of Russian oil every month. This gives Russia about $23 million in tax money each month. Some people worry that Azerbaijan is just reselling Russian gas to Europe with a different label.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, signed an agreement with Azerbaijan in 2022 to buy more gas. Now, Azerbaijan is hosting the COP29 climate change conference. At this meeting, they are making new deals to sell gas to European countries. This is happening even though the world wants to use less fossil fuel to fight climate change.
