“Azerbaijani strategy regarding energy security is divided into several stages. At the first stage, within three years after the restoration of independence, that is, in 1994, Azerbaijan became the first country to invite the leading energy companies in the world for cooperation in the Caspian Sea. shortly after This we have become a country of oil exporting to the European market and mainly to Italy. ” This was stated by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev during a speech on the topic “The role of Azerbaijan in ensuring energy security” at the International Forum in the Italian Chernobbio.
noting that Azerbaijan for many years is the largest supplier of oil to Italy, the head of state said that as a country that has no exit to the open sea, Azerbaijan needed export pipelines.
“We laid strategic oil pipelines in Turkey located in the Mediterranean port and to the Black Sea Port in Georgia. We managed to change the energy map of Europe, diversifying the supply of energy to the world market,” said Ilham Aliyev.
The head of state also emphasized that the development of giant gas fields was the second stage of the energy strategy of Azerbaijan.
“Proven gas reserves in Azerbaijan are 2.6 trillion cubic meters. Azerbaijan has been a reliable gas exporter for neighboring states for more than ten years,” the president said.
According to Ilham Aliyev, since the launch of the TAP project, which is the main and last stage of the southern gas corridor, to date, Azerbaijan, along with Turkey and Georgia, has become an exporter of natural gas into three European countries.
The Head of State noted that over the past period 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas were exported to Europe, of which 11.7 billion cubic meters falls on the share of Italy.
“This year we plan to further increase the volume of gas and export about 10 billion cubic meters of gas to the Italian market,” said Azerbaijani President.
Ilham Aliyev also stated that his visit to Italy became very successful.
“During this visit, I had meetings with the president and prime minister of Italy. At these meetings, we discussed many issues related to a close strategic partnership between our countries,” Ilham Aliyev said, also recalling the visit of Sergio Mattarella in the visit of Azerbaijan in 2017.
“During our current meetings, we discussed new and very important issues in a bilateral agenda. During the negotiations, we exchanged opinions not only on energy, economic development, but also touched on issues in the field of education,” the head of state added.