Friendship deal buoys fresh Caspian hopes
Having settled a 30-year field demarcation dispute with Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan is cheerleading for a second phase of the Southern Gas Corridor
Sentiment in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku has been on an upbeat trajectory in early 2021. Even declining oil production at its Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields in 2020, where output fell by 10pc to 175mn bl, has failed to put a dampener on Azeri optimism. Having secured an emphatic military victory over Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, the southern Caucasus oil and gas producer ended last year by completing the first phase of the 16bn m³/yr Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) pipeline system, which is sending Caspian gas 3,500km from the Shah Deniz field to Europe. First gas to Greece and Bulgaria arrived on 31 December. 32pc – Jan/Feb increase in Azeri gas exports Gas e
Also in this section
29 January 2026
Caught between LNG risks from across the Atlantic and the wounds from Russian gas dependence, Europe needs more than a simple diversification strategy
28 January 2026
The alliance looks to bolster market management credibility by bringing greater clarity and unity to output cuts and producer capacity later in 2026
23 January 2026
A strategic pivot away from Russian crude in recent weeks tees up the possibility of improved US-India trade relations
23 January 2026
The signing of a deal with a TotalEnergies-led consortium to explore for gas in a block adjoining Israel’s maritime area may breathe new life into the country’s gas ambitions






