Romania and Azerbaijan will jointly build LNG terminals on the Black Sea coast to transport liquefied natural gas in tankers. On October 19, the agreement on joint financing of feasibility studies was signed in Bucharest by the Azerbaijani state company SOCAR and the Romanian state company Romgaz.

According to Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, who was present at the signing of the memorandum, the implementation of the joint Azerbaijani-Romanian project to liquefy natural gas will open an alternative route for delivering gas produced in the Caspian region to Europe.

Ciucă said less than three weeks had passed since he met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Sofia on the occasion of the commissioning of a gas pipeline linking Bulgaria and Greece. According to the Romanian Prime Minister, a solution is still being sought for supplying Azerbaijani gas via pipelines through Turkey and Bulgaria to Romania and other consumers, including Moldova. "Together with Azerbaijan, we have pledged to help Moldova get the necessary amount of gas," the Romanian Prime Minister said. 

The signing of the agreement between SOCAR and Romgaz was also attended by Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, and Romanian Energy Minister Virgil-Daniel Popescu. 

Jabbarov recalled that SOCAR has been present in the Romanian market for more than ten years and contributes to the energy security of many neighboring countries and European states. In an agreement with the European Commission, Azerbaijan has pledged to double the volume of natural gas exports to the EU by 2027.

Shahbazov noted that constructing LNG terminals on the Black Sea would allow Azerbaijani natural gas to reach several states in the region.

Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary have been discussing the implementation of the so-called AGRI project for more than a decade. According to the initial idea, the Sangachal terminal in Azerbaijan will be connected by pipeline to the port of Kulev on the Black Sea coast of Georgia, where SOCAR plans to build a liquefaction terminal. Liquefied natural gas will be transported by tankers to the port of Constanta in Romania, from where, after regasification, natural gas will be supplied to consumers through the Romanian pipeline network.