ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Russian gas monopoly Gazprom aims to buy more gas from Azerbaijan during a meeting in St. Petersburg, the company announced.
Alexei Miller, the chief executive at Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, met with Rovnag Abdullayev, the president of the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan, in St. Petersburg to discuss energy ties.
Azerbaijan sits on some of the largest natural gas deposits in the world, making it an attractive partner for Russia and the European community.
Miller said his company would buy 70 billion cubic feet of natural gas from Azerbaijan, Bloomberg News reports.
European leaders recently reached an agreement with Azerbaijan that could help secure supplies for the Nabucco pipeline. Nabucco, a project meant to help diversify the European energy sector, has political backing but lacks official commitments from potential supplier nations.
SOCAR last year announced the reconstruction of two pipelines would give Azerbaijan the capacity needed to increase gas exports.
SOCAR said the pipeline to Russia will allow the company to execute a contract with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom that calls for up to 70 billion cf per year.
