Azerbaijan has positioned itself as a significant regional participant by branding itself as the main focus of normalization talks between Israel and Syria. However the nation will not be stopping there. Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economic system and nationwide oil and gasoline firm SOCAR chairman Mikayil Jabbarov, lately signed an settlement with Syria’s Minister of Vitality, Mohammed al-Bashir, to produce pure gasoline to the nation because it strives to rebuild and restore the injury of the civil conflict. The settlement ensures that gasoline will probably be exported to northern Syria, as early as subsequent month.
Based on UN estimates, the 14 years of civil conflict in Syria have resulted in injury of $250-400 billion, whereas over half of the inhabitants remains to be displaced, and 90% dwell under the poverty line. A very vital problem for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s regime is to supply electrical energy to residents. Qatar has pledged to speculate $7 billion in constructing energy crops, however gas is required. The Qataris may provide LNG (liquefied pure gasoline), however it’s way more costly than common pipeline provides.
The Azerbaijanis are focused on exporting pure gasoline to Syria through Turkey, as is routine in supplying Europe. On the similar time, Azerbaijan exported to Turkey itself about 4.77 billion cubic meters (BCM) of pure gasoline in January-Could of this 12 months, up 1.9% year-on-year. Of the whole, in Could alone, about 1.05 BCM was exported. Turkish gasoline imports from Russia in the identical month fell by about 62% year-on-year to about 1.19 BCM, and Iran provided a a lot smaller quantity.
The Israel connection
Exporting Azerbaijani vitality to Center Jap international locations through Israel will not be new in any respect, and its roots lie right here. Israel imports oil from Azerbaijan through the BTC (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) pipeline, which is then transported by tanker to Israel. Based on “Al-Monitor,” Azerbaijan offers about 40-60% of Israel’s consumption. Regardless of its declared embargo towards Israel, Turkey prevented disrupting oil provides to Israel through the conflict, both as a consequence of its dependence on oil and gasoline from Azerbaijan or as a consequence of royalties value $1.27 per barrel it receives for transit by way of its territory, in response to experiences.
The Syrian case is way more simple for the Turks, since al-Sharaa heads a regime that operates below is patronage and is focused on its stability. “The settlement signed with SOCAR on the provision of pure gasoline to Syria is a step in direction of vitality independence and constructing a strategic cooperation that can serve our residents,” stated Syria’s Minister of Vitality. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has already expressed his need to help Syria “in all areas.” Azerbaijan sees Syria as an essential technique of weakening Iran, which borders it and served as a significant supporter of the Assad regime.
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That is additionally very helpful to it economically, since in response to official knowledge, greater than 90% of Azerbaijan’s complete exports in 2024 had been oil and gasoline. Within the discipline of pure gasoline alone, there was a 5.8% enhance in exports to 25.2 BCM. The locations for the pure gasoline had been Europe (12.9 BCM), Turkey (9.9 BCM) and Georgia (2.4 BCM), and now Syria is seen as a chance for a large-scale and long-term buyer.
Connecting current infrastructures
The Azerbaijani-Syrian settlement contains roughly 2 BCM yearly to be conveyed through current infrastructure of the Turkish nationwide vitality firm BOTAS, alongside the Kilis-Aleppo pipeline. Only one.2 BCM will start to circulation to the Aleppo and Homs area in August, because of the limitations of the prevailing infrastructure. The coverage of exploiting alternatives in current or largely current infrastructure, no less than, may have been recognized earlier in Azerbaijan’s conduct normally and SOCAR specifically in Israel.
In March, the Azerbaijani nationwide firm signed the work plan for gasoline exploration in Block I of Israel’s northwest unique financial zone. The Azerbaijanis accepted the tender in a transfer led by NewMed (TASE: NWMD) CEO Yossi Abu even earlier than the conflict. SOCAR sees Israel’s present pipeline infrastructure as one that might connect with Turkey through Syria and create a circle.
Israel is presently related to Jordan and from there to Syria and Lebanon through the Arab Gasoline Pipeline. The preliminary Azerbaijani imaginative and prescient included increasing the Arab Gasoline Pipeline, which presently reaches Homs, and from there branches off to Tripoli in Lebanon and Banias in western Syria. The gap from Homs to Turkey is about 150 kilometers, and the Azerbaijanis would have been pleased to hook up with its gasoline pipeline, with an estimated funding of $200 million.
On the way in which to realizing the imaginative and prescient
One other main step in Israel, additionally revealed by “Globes”, occurred final month with the completion of SOCAR’s acquisition of 10% of the Tamar reservoir from Aaron Frenkel, in a deal value an estimated $1.25 billion.
All this displays Azerbaijan’s grandiose ambitions. The rising regional consolidation in oil and gasoline serves these ambitions and if in time it manages to succeed in a state of affairs the place all regional gasoline infrastructures are related to one another by way of Syria, all events will profit, and Azerbaijan will profit most of all.
Revealed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on July 31, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
