Azerbaijan can meet its goal of doubling natural gas exports to Europe, President Ilham Aliyev said, even though his country has yet to secure the long-term sales contracts it needs to invest billions of dollars in increasing production, according to Bloomberg.

The Caspian state’s natural gas exports to Europe will rise to 12 billion cubic meters (bcm) this year from 8 bcm in 2021, showing Azerbaijan “is confident of meeting its target of doubling supplies until 2027”, said Aliyev at the inauguration of a pipeline, with a length of 170 kilometers, which connects Novi Iskar, near Sofia, and the city of Nis in Serbia, according to Agerpres.

Azerbaijan, which began selling gas to Europe in 2020, agreed last year with the European Commission to increase volumes to 20 bcm over the next five years.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Azerbaijan was contacted by more than ten European countries for natural gas, but talks were inconclusive, sources told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity.

Last week, Azeri Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov refused to say whether there had been any progress in negotiations with Europe.

Serbia will be the seventh European country to receive gas from Azerbaijan, Aliyev told state news agency Azartac. State energy company Socar reached an agreement in November to export 400 million cubic meters of gas to Serbia next year.

Exports to Bulgaria will increase to almost 1 bcm this year, from 500 million cubic meters in 2022 and 270 million cubic meters in 2021, Aliyev announced.

European buyers are reluctant to enter into long-term contracts for the purchase of fossil fuels, with other options available, such as increased purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar and the United States.