EurOil: Hungary seeks out Azeri gas via Southeast Europe

Hungary is teaming up with Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Turkey to look at options for securing natural gas from Azerbaijan via Southeast Europe, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto has said, as one of the European countries most dependent on Russian gas looks to diversify its supply.

The group of countries will carry out a joint market test in the coming months, following Hungary’s reaching of a political agreement with Azerbaijan to receive 100mn cubic metres of the latter’s gas at the end of this year. An additional agreement making this supply possible will be signed later this month, Szijjarto said on April 3.

The minister said in February that Hungary’s government envisaged starting gas imports from Azerbaijan from the end of 2023. Hungary wants to secure a long-term contract for 2bn cubic metres per year of Azeri through Southeast Europe.

“Therefore, we are pushing for the development of infrastructure in this region, because this is the only solution,” he said this week.

The issue will be securing financing to build this infrastructure, he added, as the EU has been reluctant to invest in new gas pipelines.

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