Speaking at the 12th meeting of the ministers within the framework of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council and the 4th meeting of the ministers within the framework of the Green Energy Advisory Council, President Ilham Aliyev touched upon Azerbaijan's new gas production potential, stating that the "Absheron", "Umid" and also the "Shah Deniz" fields will allow for additional production.
Specifically, in the coming years, the start of the full-scale development phase at "Absheron" will triple the field's production. The second phase of gas production at the "Umid" field is also expected to commence. Alongside all this, the new phase of "Shah Deniz" production will begin in 2028.
Is a new energy boom expected in Azerbaijan?
As noted in the speech of the President of Azerbaijan, a significant increase in natural gas production is expected in the coming years. In 2025, 51.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas were produced in Azerbaijan. In 2024, this figure was 50.3 billion cubic meters. Production included 14.1 billion cubic meters from "Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli", 27.9 billion cubic meters from "Shah Deniz", 1.6 billion cubic meters from the "Absheron" field, and 7.9 billion cubic meters attributed to SOCAR. Regarding gas exports, the total external sales were 25.2 billion cubic meters. Of this, 12.8 billion cubic meters were exported to Europe, 9.6 billion cubic meters to Turkey, 2.3 billion cubic meters to Georgia, and 0.5 billion cubic meters to Syria.
As can be seen, Azerbaijan's increasing gas production also impacts the volume of exports. The planned or expected increases will lead to a sharp growth in Azerbaijan's gas exports. This means supplying gas to more countries and in larger volumes.
On the other hand, the increase in green energy production will enable savings in natural gas consumption domestically and allow for more exports. This is important in terms of increasing state revenues. Gas exports are strategic and will also increase the amount of foreign currency entering the country.
From this perspective, Azerbaijan will be able to sharply increase natural gas exports in the coming years. This further prioritizes the expansion of the transmission capacity of the Southern Gas Corridor.
Vuqar Bayramov,
economist and deputy