Russia/Azerbaijan Gas Deal Raises Questions for Europe

Russia’s Gazprom recently announced that it had begun supplying Azerbaijan with gas this month, throwing up questions about whether that gas could eventually end up in Europe.

• Brussels signed a deal with Azerbaijan earlier this year to supply gas to Europe as a key partner to try and move away from Russian flows.
• Russia's state gas producer and exporter Gazprom announced on November 18 that it had begun supplying gas to Azerbaijan's state gas company SOCAR on November 15 and would supply a total of up to a billion cubic meters through March 2023.
• Azerbaijan has been reluctant to publicly talk about the deal with Russia.
• Exports to Europe through the Southern Gas Corridor had been scheduled to reach 10 billion cubic meters this year, but under a new memorandum of understanding with the European Union signed in July, Baku agreed to increase exports to 12 billion cubic meters.
• Under the deal signed in July, Baku also agreed to double exports through the Southern Gas Corridor to 20 billion cubic meters a year by 2027.
• The Kremlin has also refused to pass comment about Russian gas going to Azerbaijan and where it will end up.