Azerbaijan is reliable supplier of gas to Europe

By Aygun Badalova

Azerbaijan is a large and reliable supplier of oil, said the article published on the website of the US magazine The National Interest and dedicated to the Eurasian energy market and its competitiveness.

Azerbaijan will soon become a supplier of gas to Europe as well, according to the article, written by William Courtney, the former US ambassador to Georgia and Kazakhstan, Richard Kauzlarich, the former US ambassador to Azerbaijan and Kenneth Yalowitz, the former US ambassador to Belarus and Georgia.

The article also says that Eurasia is a hydrocarbon giant.

“Russia has the world’s largest reserves of natural gas, and is in second place in coal and eighth in oil,” according to the article. “Russia produces almost one fifth of global gas, and the second largest amount of oil, after Saudi Arabia. Nearly one third of oil and gas consumed in Europe comes from Russia.”

At the same time, the article says Azerbaijan is a large and reliable supplier of oil in the hydrocarbon rich Caspian region.

“Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field is the newest global “super-giant” to produce oil, Kashagan is the largest oil field outside of the Middle East, and Turkmenistan has the world's fourth-largest reserves of gas,” the article said.

“Yet, the future of Eurasian energy is undermined by politics,” the authors of the article said. “Russia relies on a state-controlled gas export monopoly, Gazprom.”

“As markets become more competitive, Moscow should reconsider the use of energy as a political weapon,” the authors said. “It severely undermines Russia’s energy and economic interests.”

“To prosper, the Eurasian energy sector must become more agile and efficient,” said the article. “This means removing politics from more energy decision making, and being clear-eyed about changing market forces.”

/By Trend/