Italy’s spending on Azerbaijani gas surges

Italy has recorded a significant increase in spending on natural gas imports from Azerbaijan, reaching 619.2 million euros in November 2023, compared to 364.2 million euros in October, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, Azernews reports.

This notable surge represents a month-on-month growth of over 70 percent.

This is while gas imports dropped from 881.2 million cubic meters in October to 838.2 million cubic meters in November, showing a 5.1 percent decrease.

Over the first 11 months of 2023, Italy’s cumulative gas imports from Azerbaijan totaled 8.5 billion cubic meters, equivalent to a value exceeding 4.6 billion euros.

Azerbaijan initiated gas transportation to Europe through the Southern Gas Corridor on December 31, 2020. This corridor facilitates the transport of gas from the Caspian Sea region to European countries, passing through Georgia and Türkiye. The project, with a total cost of 33 billion US dollars, is anticipated to recoup its capital costs within 8–10 years.

In July 2022, Azerbaijan and the European Union reached an agreement to double the volume of gas supplies via the Southern Gas Corridor, from the current 10 billion cubic meters to 20 billion cubic meters by 2027.