Home industry oil-and-gas amidst Russia’s continuous supply cutoff, the EU signed a new gas deal

Amidst Russia’s continuous supply cutoff, the EU signed a new gas deal

Oil And Gas

CIO Bulletin
2022-07-19

The EU signed a new gas deal with Azerbaijan to secure future supplies amidst continuous Russian supply cutoff

Europe’s energy chief, Kadri Simson, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were in Azerbaijan on Monday to finalize the deal. The commission said Azerbaijan had committed to deliver at least 20 billion cubic meters of gas to the EU annually by 2027. Azerbaijan was already trying to increase its deliveries to the region. This year, the supply from Azerbaijan will increase from 8.1 billion cubic meters in 2021 to an expected 12 billion cubic meters

Russia has been Europe’s most important source of natural gas for several years, but to reverse, there is a firm push by Brussels. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe has been preparing for a potential complete shutdown of gas supplies.

Though Russia has denied the usage of gas as a weapon against the West, in recent weeks, supplies have fallen by more than 60%. In addition, Russia shut down a crucial transit point of Russian gas to Germany and beyond, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, for maintenance work. And this has added concerns that Moscow could potentially end its supplies of gas to the bloc altogether.