Virgil-Daniel Popescu: IGB to allow Romania to import gas from Azerbaijan

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

The launch of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) will allow Romania to import gas from Azerbaijan through the Vertical Gas Corridor, Romanian Energy Minister Virgil-Daniel Popescu said, Azernews reports.

“We are invited to the opening of the IGB, which will enable the introduction of the Vertical Gas Corridor and access to Azerbaijani gas," the minister said.

He stressed that agreements between the countries of the region are also needed to ensure the transit of this gas.

"We have been working on getting gas from non-Russian sources for a very long time. In order to import gas or LNG from somewhere else, like from Azerbaijan, we need a transit agreement, and we're working on that,” he said.

Earlier, the minister stated that Romania is one of the countries least dependent on Russian fossil fuels. He stated that the total consumption in the country is 11 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, 9 of which Romania is producing by itself, noting that the country wants to import the last 2 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan. He added that negotiations are currently underway with Azerbaijan to reach an agreement.

Azerbaijan and Romania are cooperating in various spheres of the economy. The two countries established diplomatic relations on June 19, 1992. The Embassy of Romania in Azerbaijan was opened on November 3, 1998, and the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Romania on May 19, 2001.

SOCAR operates in Romania through SOCAR Petroleum SA, established in 2011, and owns SOCAR-branded petrol stations in 26 regions of Romania.

The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $215.5 million in 2021, with exports amounting to $120.5 million, and imports to $94.9 million