Published in 2023. Azerbaijan is a country rich in oil and gas but with poor human rights and sky-high levels of corruption. Despite this record, the country signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Union to increase cooperation in energy production when the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, visited Baku on July 18, 2022.
This was described as a potential step toward using Azerbaijani gas as an alternative to Russian energy; the document signed was simply a statement of intent and served a more political purpose.
This agreement envisages a substantial increase in the annual volume of gas exported from Azerbaijan to Europe over the next five years. Under the new agreement, the country is expected to increase its gas exports to the European Union within the framework of the Southern Gas Corridor to 20 billion cubic metres by 2027, and up to 11.6 billion cubic metres by 2023.