Hungary to buy more Azeri gas, MOL close to upstream deal, foreign minister says

BUDAPEST, Dec ‌11 (Reuters) - Hungary signed a framework agreement with Azerbaijan for the purchase ‍of up ‌to 800 million cubic meters of natural gas over two years, Hungary's Foreign ⁠Minister Peter Szijjarto told a briefing ‌on Thursday.  

The deal between Hungary's state-owned MVM and Azerbaijan's SOCAR is the third gas deal that Hungary signed since September that could help the country diversify from Russian gas.

"This ⁠is a framework agreement that enables up to 800 million cubic metres of deliveries to be realised. ​Specifically how much of this will be fulfilled ‌in the next two years will ⁠depend on the prevailing market conditions," Szijjarto said.

In October, Hungarian natural gas wholesaler MVM CEEnergy agreed to buy 400 million cubic metres of gas a ​year from France's Engie between 2028 and 2038.

Earlier, Hungary agreed with Shell to buy 200 mcm of natural gas a year from January 2026, equal to around 2.5% of its demand as the country consumes around 8 billion ​cubic metres ‍of gas a year.

Last week ​MVM CEO Karoly Matrai told Reuters that MVM group will be able to supply the country with enough gas even if imports from Russia are halted, although prices will likely rise, its chief executive told Reuters.

Despite efforts to diversify, Hungary has maintained its reliance on Russian gas and oil even after the start ⁠of the war in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban said this week that Hungary has imported 7.5 billion cubic meters ​of gas from Russia so far this year.

At the briefing on Thursday, Szijjarto also said that Hungary's oil and gas company MOL was close to "signing a deal on participation in a new big exploration ‌and production project" in Azerbaijan.

MOL did not immediately reply to questions from Reuters on the possible deal.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than and Anita Komuves; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )