US top energy official in Azerbaijan to explore ways to expand cooperation

The US Department of State Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR) Assistant Secretary Geoffrey Pyatt arrived in Azerbaijan on May 30.

Pyatt will stay in the South Caucasus country until June 2, according to the US Embassy in Azerbaijan.

While in Baku, he will participate in the 28th annual Baku Energy Week, which consists of the International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition, the Caspian International Power and Green Energy Exhibition, and the Baku Energy Forum.

He is scheduled to meet with Azerbaijani government officials to discuss energy security and opportunities to increase the use of renewable energy sources.

Assistant Secretary Pyatt will also meet with energy officials from other countries and organizations to promote further international cooperation to stabilize global energy supplies while accelerating the clean energy transition.

In 2022, Karen Donfried, a US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said during the hearing held at the Foreign Relations Committee of the US House of Representatives that energy cooperation with Azerbaijan is a common strategic goal for Washington.

"The United States has always strongly supported the completion of the Southern Gas Corridor, which ensures the delivery of natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe. This project has contributed to the diversification of Europe's energy supply and alternatives, which is currently the priority policy of the United States against the background of Russia's war in Ukraine. Currently, the US is investigating potential ways to deliver Turkmenistan's gas to Europe via Azerbaijan," Donfried said.

In April 2023, Baku hosted the US-Azerbaijan Green Energy Forum, which serves as a partnership between the Department of State and the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, Renewable Energy Agency, and AZPROMO for promoting green energy solutions and focuses on green energy strategies and opportunities for the region and provides immense opportunities for US renewable energy companies.

At the forum, the Azerbaijani authorities offered the United States to expand cooperation in the field of energy in three directions, including in Azerbaijan’s liberated territories, the Caspian Sea region, and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, a southwestern exclave of Azerbaijan.

"We proposed to our colleagues from the USA to establish and expand cooperation in these three priority areas," Azerbaijan's Deputy Energy Minister Elnur Soltanov said back then.