The European Commission has signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaidjan to increase imports of natural gas via the Southern Gas Corridor to 20 bcm/year in 2027. In the short run, Azeri natural gas exports to the European Union should increase from 8.1 bcm in 2021 to 12 bcm in 2022. This is expected to help compensate for cuts in supplies of Russian gas and contribute to the European Union's security of supply. In June 2022, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted the proposal by the European Commission for a regulation on gas storage to ensure an adequate level of gas storage before the start of the heating season in October 2022. The regulation requires that Member States ensure that existing gas storage facilities on their respective territory are filled up to at least 80% of their capacity by 1 November 2022.
Azerbaijan started commercial gas supplies to Europe via the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline in January 2021. The 878 km long pipeline, which is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, delivers natural gas from the Shah Deniz II field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to Europe, connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border in Kipoi, crosses Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy. Snam has a 20% stake in the project, along with BP (20%), Socar (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagas (16%) and Axpo (EGL) (5%).