ADIPEC panel: Romania seeks balance of cheap and safe energy; Azerbaijan calls cooperation 'survival'

Romania's Secretary of State for Energy and Azerbaijan's Deputy Minister of Energy gave their definitions of energy cooperation at ADIPEC 2026, according to Day 2 highlights published by the organisers. The Stratawire did not attend the session.

They spoke at the Strategic Conference session “Beyond borders: can national energy strategies deliver a connected global system?”, which the organisers' highlights placed within a day focused on the infrastructure, technologies and investment needed to meet growing energy demand and strengthen energy security.

Romania: cheap and safe

His Excellency Marius-Viorel Poșa, Secretary of State at Romania's Ministry of Energy, said, according to the highlights, that “Cooperation means producing and having clients.” He added that the clients he meant were not only economic ones.

In his words, it is about “evolution: starting to create networks that produce cheaper energy, but also safe energy.” He concluded: “We must strike a balance between cheap and safe.”

Azerbaijan: game theory

His Excellency Dr Elnur Soltanov, Azerbaijan's Deputy Minister of Energy, said, according to the same highlights: “For Azerbaijan, cooperation is survival.”

He said cooperation could not be one-sided. “You need to make sure everyone cooperates, otherwise you end up the loser,” he said, according to the organisers. He described the aim as “recasting the process, shifting it from a win-lose perspective to a win-win perspective.”

Soltanov added that cooperation was also about trust. “All three of these concepts come from game theory: survival, win-win and building trust,” he said, as published by the organisers.

Session background

Energy Connects, published by dmg events, the organiser of ADIPEC, said in its Day 2 report that ministers on the panel explored how national energy priorities can be aligned to support a more connected, resilient and secure global energy system. It said they highlighted the importance of greater international coordination across the energy value chain.

Romania's supply context

OMV Petrom and SNGN ROMGAZ said in a press release that they had completed installation of the offshore production platform for Neptun Deep, which they described as Romania's largest natural gas project. According to the release, the project is on schedule for production to start in 2027 and will contribute to strengthening the energy security of Romania and the region.

The companies said the project's production infrastructure includes 10 wells at the Pelican South and Domino fields, three subsea production systems, collector pipelines, an offshore platform, a gas pipeline to Tuzla and a gas measurement station. They said the 160 km pipeline had already been installed.

In comments reported by Adevărul from the Energy Forward 2026 conference on 5 May, Poșa said Romania could become one of the most important players in the regional gas market if projects such as Neptun Deep and the vertical corridor were prioritised.

Azerbaijan's export context

Interfax reported on 15 October, citing the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy's preliminary data, that Azerbaijan exported 18.4 billion cubic metres of gas in January-September 2026, up 0.5% on the same period of 2025. Interfax said exports to Europe fell 8.5% to 8.6 bcm, while exports to Turkey fell 4.1% to 7 bcm.

Interfax also reported that Azerbaijan has gas supply agreements with 16 countries, 13 of them in Europe, including Romania.

Report.az quoted Azerbaijan's energy minister, Shahbazov, as saying that more than 54 bcm of gas had been supplied to Europe via TAP in the five years since exports began. Report.az also said that, under an agreement with the EU, deliveries are expected to reach at least 20 bcm a year by 2027.

Caliber.Az reported in May that Soltanov, speaking at the Belgrade Energy Forum, said Azerbaijan “exports energy security” and benefits both itself and the wider region.