VNG AG seeks to increase Azerbaijani gas imports - EXCLUSIVE

German company VNG AG is interested in increasing its gas imports from Azerbaijan and moving to long-term contracts, VNG AG Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Development Oliver Hill told Report.

According to Hill, VNG is interested in expanding cooperation with SOCAR not only in natural gas supplies, but also in areas including biomethane, renewable energy, hydrogen and decarbonized fuels.

"As I said, this is a long-term contract. In addition, we see opportunities for cooperation in biomethane and renewable energy," Hill said.

He also stressed the importance of Azerbaijan and the gas supplied from the country to Europe complying with the EU's methane emissions requirements currently being developed by the European Union.

"This is a very big and important issue. For us, it is important to be able to increase volumes in the future," he said.

Hill added that VNG is also interested in hydrogen and other decarbonized fuels.

"As I mentioned, we are not an electricity company - we are a company that works with molecules. We move molecules from point A to point B, so we are interested in hydrogen," he explained .

Regarding natural gas supply volumes, Hill said VNG currently imports 2.5 TWh of gas from Azerbaijan.

"We would like to increase this volume as much as possible," he said.

Hill also confirmed VNG's readiness to conclude a long-term contract. According to him, the current agreement is valid for only three years, while the company is ready to move to a 15- 20-year agreement.

He said such an arrangement would ensure long-term gas supplies to Germany while also creating conditions for investment in Azerbaijan.