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Hungary to buy more Azeri gas, MOL close to upstream deal, foreign minister says
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 11, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 11, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Hungary inks a deal with Azerbaijan for up to 800 million cubic meters of gas, aiming to reduce reliance on Russian energy. MOL nears a new exploration project.
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 )
Natural gas is a fossil fuel composed mainly of methane, used as an energy source for heating, electricity generation, and as a fuel for vehicles.
Energy diversification refers to the strategy of using a variety of energy sources to reduce reliance on a single source, enhancing energy security.
Upstream oil and gas refers to the exploration and production phase of the oil and gas industry, focusing on locating and extracting crude oil and natural gas.
Market conditions refer to the various factors that influence the supply and demand of goods and services in a market, affecting pricing and availability.
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