Natural gas accommodates about 24% of the world’s total energy demand and, thus, just as oil, plays a very important role in meeting global energy needs. Natural gas has accounted for almost a third of the growth in global energy consumption over the past decade, and its consumption is also expected to increase in the future. Natural gas is mainly used for heating homes and commercial buildings, cooking and generating electricity, as well as in the petrochemical industry.

Many of the products we use every day, such as cell phones, cosmetics, sunglasses, computers, medicines and fertilizers for agriculture, are produced using natural gas as a feedstock. Natural gas is transported by pipeline or cooled and compressed to produce LNG, which is transported by LNG carriers. Economic growth, prices for alternative energy sources, weather, temperature, adaptation to the climate change and measures to mitigate its consequences – these are all factors affecting the demand for gas.

 Using gas instead of coal to generate electricity can lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Europe and the rest of the world use a lot of coal to generate electricity. When generating electricity, gas emits about half as much CO2 as coal. Therefore, replacing coal with gas in electricity production is a simple, efficient and cheap way to quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality.

In 2019, the EU managed to reduce CO2 emissions from electricity generation by 42 million tons, replacing coal with gas. Just for comparison, 42 million tons of CO2 correspond to about 80% of total CO2 emissions in Norway.

Gas is also a good partner for renewable energy. Unlike hydroelectric power, other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind cannot be stored and are therefore less flexible. In the absence of efficient energy storage capabilities, gas can produce energy when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.

As Europe uses more and more renewable energy sources, it will need the flexibility that gas can provide to balance fluctuations in energy supply and provide consumers with a reliable electricity supply.

High liquidity leads to extreme vulnerability of the natural gas market in case of its shortage. Any - political, country, technical, environmental risks lead to an increase and subsequent high price volatility. If we add to this a high cost of exploration and development of natural gas fields, as well as insufficient development (relative to the oil market) of spot gas trade, it becomes clear that the EU’s sanctions policy to limit Russian gas supplies will result in a change of export vectors and remodeling of their marketing component on the one hand, and lead to the construction of new infrastructure and stimulation of new supplies on the other.

Traditional suppliers like Norway (25%) and Algeria (11%) will have to compensate for the gradually outgoing 39% of the Russian supply segment, adding supplies from Azerbaijan and new LNG terminals. Russian Gazprom will have to redirect supplies to Asia, which is already happening. Under a bilateral long-term contract between Gazprom and CNPC the volume of gas exports to China via the Power of Siberia (‘Sila Sibiri’) gas pipeline increased by 60.9% in the period from January to July 2022, the company’s website reported on August 1.

At the same time, in July, deliveries to China went beyond the daily contract volumes, and the historical record of the daily export volume was updated three times.

There is no gas shortage in the EU. Moreover, there is even an overabundance of gas and gas storage facilities continue to fill up.

The decline of global gas demand made about 35 billion cubic meters within a 7-month window compared with the same period in 2021. Total consumption of gas in the EU countries decreased by 31 billion cubic meters, and exports to non-CIS countries fell by 34.7% and amounted to 75.3 billion cubic meters. “The reduction of gas consumption in the EU has become a key factor in the decline of global demand,” Gazprom believes.

Floating liquefied gas terminals are being installed quickly (several of them will be operational by winter, including in Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, and a dozen more will be ready in 1-2 years).        

Thirdly, reserves of coal-fired power plants are tapped to be able to turn off gas-fired power plants if necessary and thereby save gas (in some European countries, most of the electricity is produced from gas).

Azerbaijan increased gas supplies to Europe already this spring, and in July the European Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan on doubling the import of Azerbaijani natural gas to at least 20 billion cubic meters per year by 2027. The export of gas volumes, declared at customs, from Azerbaijan in the first half of 2022 amounted to 11 billion 364 million 844.71 thousand cubic meters, which is 9.5% higher than in January-June last year, the State Customs Committee (SCC) told Interfax-Azerbaijan. Gas supplies accounted for 40.26% of Azerbaijan’s total exports during the reporting period (18% in January-June 2021). The export value of declared gas from Azerbaijan amounted to $7 billion 440 million 434.54 thousand (an increase of 4.7 times).

Algeria has recently concluded agreements with Italy to increase gas supplies through the Transmed gas pipeline by the end of the year. Algeria became the first supplier to Italy, getting ahead of Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of 2022, Algeria has delivered 13.9 billion cubic meters to Italy, exceeding the previously agreed volumes by 113%.

Algeria is the first gas exporter in Africa and meets about 11% of the Europe’s needs.

Thus, any peretrubation in the global energy market emphasizes, first of all, the indispensability of gas as the most liquid energy carrier. The seclusion of the Eurasian gas market through export pipelines of Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan serves as the basis for continuing stable supplies, stimulating investment in the industry, especially into the upstream sector of regions where export infrastructure has already been built. Further construction of regasification terminals will lead to a more flexible hedging of risks, increase in supplies and price volatility reduction for an increasingly longer term.

The 21st North Caspian Regional Atyrau Oil&Gas Exhibition And The North Caspian Regional Construction Exhibition - Atyraubuild Completed In Atyrau.

For more than 20 years of its existence, Atyrau Oil&Gas exhibition has become the central meeting place for oil and gas industry specialists, providing a key platform for communication between representatives of government officials and leading market players. Traditionally, new ways for partnership projects in the areas of oil and gas exploration and production, industrial equipment production and infrastructure development were presented at the site. The exhibition served as a significant event for the oil and gas industry of Kazakhstan, presenting the latest trends in the development of the oil and gas and construction industries in the region, as well as the latest technologies and equipment.

Products manufactured by the participants themselves and supplied by official distributors were presented by 102 companies from various countries, including Finland, Austria, Azerbaijan, Germany, Kazakhstan, China, Russia and Turkey. The exhibition also included collective expositions organized by the Export Support Center of the Perm region and the Development Corporation of the Udmurt Republic of the Russian Federation.

The overall increase in the number of companies participating in the exhibition was 20% compared to last year. The growth in the number of participants also reflects the global trend of increasing demand for energy resources and the search for new, more efficient and environmentally friendly ways to extract and use them. The significant increase in debutants (over 40% of the total) also highlights the growing interest in the exhibition and its role as a key platform for interaction between representatives of the oil and gas industry. Most of them have already positively assessed participation in exhibitions as a necessary investment for their further growth.

- This is our first time taking part in this exhibition. We have very high expectations and are very pleased with the number of visitors. The purpose of our participation is to show large companies in the region our local production, and that it is very profitable to work with us, thanks to savings on logistics. Thank you for organizing this exhibition, said Dilnaz Akmaliyeva, the manager of Erreesse Caspian Valves.

Representatives of Machinist company from Finland also made their debut in 2024. During the three days of the exposition, the first agreements on cooperation in Kazakhstan were reached; the participation brought good results, according to the participants.

- We came to Atyrau for an Oil and Gas exhibition in order to get acquainted with the local market. We would like to assess how our technology can be useful here. There are some successes: yesterday there was a meeting with customers from Karaganda, where construction of a large industrial facility is planned. Today there will be another meeting with another potential customer. We have prepared a favourable offer, we really hope that it will be interesting, and we will be able to make a deal while being here at the exhibition”, said Vladimir Volkov, a representative of the Machinist company.

Many companies from the CIS countries took part in the exhibition in order to find distributors in the western cities of Kazakhstan.

It is worth noting that many visitors, after analyzing and monitoring the participants of the Atyrau Oil&Gas exhibition, decide to become participants in the next exposition, as they see opportunities for the development and expansion of their business, and perceive the exhibition as an effective site for promoting their goods and services.

- The exhibition is very interesting from the point of view of studying the market, participants and visitors. In general, such events are necessary to show potential customers the products, materials, goods. I believe that the exhibition is one of the most important marketing tools for promoting oil and gas companies, said Zhandos Mukhambetov, a guest from Almaty.

The organizers of such exhibitions, however, as well as their participants, are confident that every year in Kazakhstan the number of joint ventures with countries near and far abroad that are interested in the Kazakhstan market will grow. As part of the business program of the exhibition, 13 dialogue platforms were organized on current topics in the development of the country’s oil and gas sector.

The rich program was provided by dozens of speakers from among government officials, expert practitioners, and representatives of major industry associations and unions. During the seminars, industry experts from companies such as Tengizchevroil, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, EnergoInnovatsiya Association of Innovative Enterprises in the Energy Sector, National Institute for Development in the Field of Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency JSC and others shared their experience.

It should be noted that a new feature of the exhibitions was the launch of the innovative mobile application - ITECA.EVENTS. Its main task is to make both participation and visiting of the exhibition as productive as possible. Using the application, participants could make appointments with potential customers and collect contacts by scanning QR codes of badges. And visitors always had at their disposal a list of participants with a list of products and services presented at the exhibition, as well as a business program schedule and an interactive exhibition plan.

Traditionally, the Atyrau Oil&Gas and AtyrauBuild exhibitions have become productive industry platforms and have given all market participants the opportunity to get acquainted with the products and services of exhibitors, discuss pressing issues and conclude profitable contracts.

The General Partner of the Atyrau Oil&Gas exhibition is Tengizchevroil. The Golden Partners of the event are Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Embamunaigas. The Silver Partner of the event is Dereknet.

Official support for the events was provided by the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Akimat of the Atyrau region, KAZENERGY Kazakhstan Association of Oil and Gas and Energy Complex Organizations ALE, KAZSERVICE Union of Service Companies, Union for the Development of Strategic Partnerships in the Oil and Gas Industry - PETROCOUNCIL.KZ, Kazakhstan Society of Petroleum Workers and Geologists (KONG), Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The events are organized by Iteca Kazakhstan Exhibition Company and its international partner - ICA Events Group of Companies.

On April 14, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with his Uzbek counterpart Bakhtiyor Saidov within the framework of the working visit made to Uzbekistan, Caspian Energy Media reports with reference to the information placed on the social network of the ministry.

"The ministers discussed a wide range of issues related to the further expansion of the Azerbaijani-Uzbek strategic partnership and the current regional situation," the ministry said.

14 апреля министр иностранных дел Азербайджана Джейхун Байрамов в рамках рабочего визита в Узбекистан встретился с министром иностранных дел этой страны Бахтиёром Саидовым. Об этом передает CaspianEnergyMedia со ссылкой на сообщение в аккаунте  Министерства иностранных дел в социальной сети.

"Министры обсудили широкий спектр вопросов, связанных с дальнейшим расширением азербайджано-узбекистанского стратегического партнерства, текущей региональной ситуацией", - отмечено в социальной сети внешнеполитического ведомства.

Местом проведения 29-й сессии Конференции сторон Рамочной конвенции ООН об изменении климата – COP29 выбран Бакинский стадион.

Как сообщает Caspian Energy Media со ссылкой на АЗЕРТАДЖ, об этом сказала председатель правления Операционной компании COP29, главный исполнительный директор по операциям Нармин Джарчалова на первой пресс-конференции в штаб-квартире COP29.

Она отметила, что, хотя в Азербайджане и ранее проводились различные международные мероприятия, COP29 станет крупнейшим мероприятием по количеству участников и масштабу. Решение о месте проведения COP29 было принято после консультаций с ООН и с учетом опыта предыдущих мероприятий COP. В ходе масштабных мероприятий, проведенных по сей день на этой площадке, были полностью обеспечены эффективное использование и устойчивость инфраструктуры.

По словам Джарчаловой, синяя и зеленая зоны, которые будут организованы на территории стадиона в период проведения COP29, подготавливаются в координации с командой организаторов. Вокруг стадиона будут установлены конструкции, позволяющие организовать все пленарные заседания конференции в едином пространстве.

Baku Stadium has been chosen as the venue for COP29. As reported by Caspian Energy Media with reference to AZERTAC, this was stated by Narmin Jarchalova, Chair of the COP29 Operating Company and Chief Operating Officer, at the first press conference held at the COP29 Presidency headquarters.

She emphasized that Azerbaijan has already hosted a variety of international events, but in terms of scale and number of participants COP29 will be the largest event hosted by the country. She said that Baku Stadium has been chosen as the venue for the conference. This decision took into account the advice of the UN (UNFCCC) and the experience of previous conferences of the parties. The venue's infrastructure has already proved efficient and sustainable at large-scale events.

According to Narmin Jarchalova, the Blue and Green Zones for COP29 will fit neatly on the stadium territory, and a plan for the venue is being drawn up in coordination with the UN organizing team to reduce to a minimum the negative impact on the environment. Additional buildings will be set up around the stadium itself so that all the plenary sessions of the conference can be held in a single space.

15 апреля в Генеральном штабе COP29 состоялась первая пресс-конференция в связи с 29-й сессией Конференции Сторон Рамочной конвенции ООН об изменении климата, которая состоится в ноябре 2024 года в Азербайджане.

Как сообщает в понедельник Caspian Energy Media со ссылкой на Trend, на мероприятии выступили назначенный президент COP29 Мухтар Бабаев, главный переговорщик COP29 Ялчин Рафиев, генеральный директор COP29 Эльнур Солтанов, председатель совета директоров и главный исполнительный директор операционной компании по COP29 Нармин Джарчалова, лидер высокого уровня ООН по климату Нигяр Арпадараи, "Молодежный защитник климата" CОР29 по Азербайджану Лейла Гасанова.

Привлечение бизнеса на 29-ю сессию Конференции сторон Рамочной конвенции ООН об изменении климата (COP29), которая пройдет в Азербайджане, является одной из приоритетных задач страны.

Об этом на пресс-конференции в штаб-квартире COP29 заявила Лидер высокого уровня ООН по климату на COP29 Нигяр Арпадараи.

Она отметила, что с этой целью будут проведены бизнес-форумы.

Работы по подготовке к 29-й сессии Конференции сторон Рамочной конвенции ООН по изменению климата (COP29) ведутся в двух направлениях. Как сообщает Caspian Energy Media со ссылкой на Report, об этом сказал главный переговорщик COP29 Ялчин Рафиев на первой пресс-конференции в штаб-квартире COP29.

Первое направление связано с работой над документами, которые будут приняты на конференции, а также с предложениями Азербайджана по климату.

«В то же время были совершены визиты во многие государства, состоялся обмен опытом по COP, проведены обсуждения. Основной целью бакинской сессии COP является создание консенсуса с учетом разногласий между сторонами», - сказал он.

29- я Конференция Сторон - COP 29 пройдет 11–22 ноября 2024 года в Баку. COP29, как и ее предшественники, сосредоточится на продвижении целей РКИК ООН и Парижского соглашения, включая усилия по ограничению глобального потепления, адаптации к последствиям изменения климата и мобилизации финансирования для этой деятельности.

Эта конференция будет включать в себя несколько ключевых встреч: 29-ю сессию Конференции Сторон (COP 29), 19-е заседание КС как Совещания Сторон Киотского протокола (CMP 19) и шестое заседание КС  как Совещание Сторон Парижского соглашения (CMA 6).

Основная цель этих встреч будет заключаться в доработке первой расширенной структуры прозрачности и установлении новой коллективной количественной цели в области финансов, среди других важных вопросов.

On April 15, the COP29 General Headquarters hosted the first press conference regarding the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in November 2024 in Azerbaijan,

As reported by Caspian Energy Media with reference to Trend, COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 Lead Negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev, COP29 CEO Elnur Soltanov, COP29 Operating Company Chairman and CEO Narmin Jarchalova, UN High-Level Climate Champion Nigar Arpadarai, and COP29 Youth Climate Champion for Azerbaijan Leyla Hasanova were among the speakers at the event.

One of the major priorities for the country is to attract businesses to the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Azerbaijan.

This was stated by UN High-Level Climate Champion Nigar Arpadarai at the press conference.

She noted that business forums would be held toward that end. 

Находящийся с официальным визитом в Иордании министр обороны Азербайджанской Республики генерал-полковник Закир Гасанов встретился с Королем Иорданского Хашимитского Королевства Его величеством Абдаллой ибн Аль Хусейном II. Об этом передает  CaspianEnergyMedia  со ссылкой на сайт министерство обороны Азербайджана.

На встрече была подчеркнута важность сотрудничества с Иорданией в военной сфере, равно как и в других областях.

The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, who is on an official visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, met with the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan His Majesty Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, Caspian Energy Media reports with reference to the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan.

The meeting emphasized the importance of cooperation with Jordan in the military field, as in many spheres.