President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has addressed the 8th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council. In his words, today's meeting was attended by more countries and companies than last year, which means that there is a need for Azerbaijani gas in new markets.

"Today's meeting is attended by more countries and companies than last year. We have new participants, and this shows that there is a need for Azerbaijani gas in new markets. We are ready, because Azerbaijan has always been a reliable supplier of energy resources to international markets," said Aliyev, Report informs.

The president also noted that Azerbaijan exported 19 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year. Of these, 8.5 billion cubic meters were exported to Turkey, about 7 billion cubic meters - to Italy, the rest - to Georgia, Greece and Bulgaria.

During the same meeting, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said: "We want to bring the natural gas supply from Azerbaijan to Europe to 10 billion cubic meters. To do this, we must achieve a secure supply."

She said that market expectations are currently being examined: “Based on the results of these studies, we can implement the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor.”

Recently, the European Union started negotiating possible gas supplies with the United States, Qatar and Azerbaijan in case Russia cuts or stops its gas deliveries, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on his personal blog.

"We have to be prepared in case diplomacy fails. We are looking at all options and scenarios, including working with partners, like the US, Qatar and Azerbaijan, on the issue of gas supply in case Russia decides to reduce or halt deliveries," Borrell wrote.