Azerbaijan and Israel strengthen ties with gas exploration deal

Azerbaijan is set to increase its involvement in Israel's energy sector, following a visit by Azerbaijani officials to Jerusalem.

A delegation led by Mikayil Jabbarov, Azerbaijan's minister of the economy, recently held talks in Israel to finalise a key gas exploration deal.

The Azerbaijan State Oil Company (SOCAR) was awarded exploration rights by Israel in 2023. However, progress in the exploration of natural gas off the Israeli coast has been delayed by the war in Gaza, which began in October 2023.

On Monday, Israel granted exploratory licences to a consortium consisting of Azerbaijan's SOCAR, the UK's BP and Israel's NewMed Energy.

SOCAR will search for gas in Zone I, a 1,700 square kilometre area in the north of Israel's economic waters.

This will be SOCAR's first drilling undertaking outside of Azerbaijan.

A memorandum of understanding was also signed between SOCAR and the Israeli company Union Energy on joint exploration activities in Israel's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Jabbarov said.

In a separate development, SOCAR announced on 31 January that it had signed an agreement with Union Energy to acquire a 10% stake in the Tamar project, one of the largest offshore gas fields in the Mediterranean.

SOCAR invests in Israel's Tamar offshore gas field and is now expanding its involvement with new exploration licenses.