Azerbaijan sees Israel as integral part of regional energy market

Azerbaijan has positioned itself as a serious regional participant by branding itself as the main focus of normalization talks between Israel and Syria. However the nation just isn’t stopping there. Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economic system and nationwide oil and fuel firm SOCAR chairman Mikayil Jabbarov, just lately signed an settlement with Syria’s Minister of Vitality, Mohammed al-Bashir, to provide pure fuel to the nation because it strives to rebuild and restore the injury of the civil warfare. The settlement ensures that fuel might be exported to northern Syria, as early as subsequent month.

Based on UN estimates, the 14 years of civil warfare in Syria have resulted in injury of $250-400 billion, whereas over half of the inhabitants continues to be displaced, and 90% stay under the poverty line. A very important 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 vegetation, however gasoline is required. The Qataris may provide LNG (liquefied pure fuel), however it’s rather more costly than common pipeline provides.

The Azerbaijanis are fascinated by exporting pure fuel to Syria through Turkey, as is routine in supplying Europe. On the identical time, Azerbaijan exported to Turkey itself about 4.77 billion cubic meters (BCM) of pure fuel in January-Could of this yr, up 1.9% year-on-year. Of the whole, in Could alone, about 1.05 BCM was exported. Turkish fuel 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 power to Center Japanese nations through Israel just isn’t 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 gives about 40-60% of Israel’s consumption. Regardless of its declared embargo in opposition to Israel, Turkey averted disrupting oil provides to Israel throughout the warfare, both on account of its dependence on oil and fuel from Azerbaijan or on account of royalties value $1.27 per barrel it receives for transit by means of its territory, in response to studies.

The Syrian case is rather more easy for the Turks, since al-Sharaa heads a regime that operates below is patronage and is fascinated by its stability. “The settlement signed with SOCAR on the provision of pure fuel to Syria is a step in the direction of power independence and constructing a strategic cooperation that can serve our residents,” mentioned Syria’s Minister of Vitality. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has already expressed his want to help Syria “in all areas.” Azerbaijan sees Syria as an necessary technique of weakening Iran, which borders it and served as a serious supporter of the Assad regime.

That is additionally very useful to it economically, since in response to official knowledge, greater than 90% of Azerbaijan’s complete exports in 2024 have been oil and fuel. Within the area of pure fuel alone, there was a 5.8% improve in exports to 25.2 BCM. The locations for the pure fuel have 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 present infrastructures

The Azerbaijani-Syrian settlement contains roughly 2 BCM yearly to be conveyed through present infrastructure of the Turkish nationwide power firm BOTAS, alongside the Kilis-Aleppo pipeline. Only one.2 BCM will start to circulation to the Aleppo and Homs area in August, as a result of limitations of the prevailing infrastructure. The coverage of exploiting alternatives in present or largely present infrastructure, no less than, may have been recognized earlier in Azerbaijan’s conduct generally and SOCAR particularly in Israel.

In March, the Azerbaijani nationwide firm signed the work plan for fuel 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 warfare. SOCAR sees Israel’s present pipeline infrastructure as one that might connect with Turkey through Syria and create a circle.

Israel is at the moment 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 at the moment reaches Homs, and from there branches off to Tripoli in Lebanon and Banias in western Syria. The space from Homs to Turkey is about 150 kilometers, and the Azerbaijanis would have been comfortable to hook up with its fuel pipeline, with an estimated funding of $200 million.

On the best way 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 fuel serves these ambitions and if in time it manages to succeed in a scenario the place all regional fuel infrastructures are related to one another by means of Syria, all events will profit, and Azerbaijan will profit most of all.

Printed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on July 31, 2025.

© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.