Germany Sounds Out New Potential Energy Sources

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliev focused their talks Sunday on energy issues and ways the two countries could increase cooperation.

As part of a three-day tour of the southern Caucasus states, Steinmeier was seeking ways to decrease Germany’s dependence on Russian energy supplies after doubts have surfaced across Europe concerning the reliability of Russian oil and gas deliveries.
A key issue in the talks was a 1,776-kilometer (1,104-mile) oil pipeline that was opened last year and provides a European outlet for Azerbaijani oil by connecting the capital of Baku via Tbilisi in Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Thanks mainly to their large oil and gas fields, the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan last year booked 35 percent economic growth as a booming oil nation. Many in Europe, however, remain concerned about the country’s spotty human rights record.

Deutsche Welle