Expert clarifies contradiction between statistics related to Azerbaijan's gas export

Azerbaijan's gas export revenues have increased in recent years, following the the western sanctions on Russian gas, which resulted also the hike of the natural gas price in the world energy market. By that time Azerbaijan's export profit was mostly based on oil and in 2022, for the first time, the share of oil in Azerbaijan's exports declined to 51 percent resulting in less dependency of Azerbaijan on oil. Meanwhile, in order to meet the growing demand in Europe, Azerbaijan doubled the export of natural gas to Europe. However, in 2023, the report of the State Customs Committee (SCC) in the first quarter of this year stated that Azerbaijan's gas export was 2.3 billion dollars, which in comparison with the same period of the last year, this was 46 percent lower in terms of volume, and 32 percent lower in terms of value.

Clarifying the numbers, the expert noted that both the producing company and the Ministry of Energy, including the State Statistics Committee write the meter readings in their monthly reports.

As for the reason for such a contradiction in numbers, Ilham Shaban said that the reason is not much clear however, he added that a similar contradiction in the export of electricity was observed previously.

Despite such contradicting numbers may sometimes cause a confusion in public, Azerbaijani state is true to its promise and I can surely say that Azerbaijan's gas exports to Europe are increasing.